


Our Names are Called and the Stars Wake

by allourheroes



Category: Thai Actor RPF, offgun
Genre: Accidental Marriage, Alternate Universe - Fae, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Explicit Sexual Content, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Magic, Other Relationships in Notes, Soulmates, mild horror elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 23:53:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 50,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29617389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allourheroes/pseuds/allourheroes
Summary: Taking a step forward, Off manages to say, “Gun,” before his chest is up against Gun’s back. They play at an almost-kiss and Off feels like he can feel the air between them keenly, each breath magnetized to draw him in. A shift, lips almost meet, another, this push-pull force between them before he presses his lips to Gun’s shoulder instead, down to his shoulder blade. He thinks of those other fairies, the ones they always show in picture books with those delicate, gossamer wings and tiny little outfits and thinks the image very un-Gun-like but pleasing nonetheless.“I don’t have wings, Papii,” Gun says, sensing Off’s thoughts as he tends to.An OffGun AU in which Off makes a deal with a fairy: a kiss in exchange for each letter of his name. There is far more, however, to what draws them together than the magic of their deal.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Off Jumpol Adulkittiporn/Gun Atthaphan Phunsawat
Comments: 111
Kudos: 70





	1. the sleeping star

**Author's Note:**

> This was such a big endeavor for me and would not at all have happened without [SpellWolf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpellWolf/pseuds/SpellWolf), who was my cheerleader and read this over (and is reading it over again) and screamed at me and helped me work out ideas/yell at them and kept me going. Thank you so, so, so much, Max. 😭
> 
> As it says in the summary, this fic is complete at just slightly over 50,000 words. Fic title and chapter titles come from altered kpop lyrics (TXT) and the poem "i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)" by e.e. cummings.
> 
> If anyone has been waiting on "Unwinding," that's my next priority. :)
> 
> Background relationship possibilities (nothing confirmed except OffGun): ArmAlice, KristSingto, TayNew/LeeTay/JossTay (reader's choice), MikeToptap/MikeGodji (reader's choice)
> 
> This was really a labor of love, so please give it a chance. 💚

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Off and Gun**

Off Jumpol had been told his whole life to stay out of the woods. For the most part, he had listened. It hadn’t been because he was obedient or even good at following basic instructions, but instead because Off wasn’t overly inclined to go outdoors.

He preferred hanging out with his friends and going out to eat and doing pretty much anything that _didn’t_ include going into the weird, creepy woods at the edge of town.

Which makes it a little bit strange that today of all days he decided to go for a walk.

In the woods.

Off is just looking for a place to clear his head, has been told to get some fresh air, and…

He doesn’t remember exactly how he got here, it had just sort of happened.

Traipsing through the forest, he doesn’t exactly pay close attention to what’s beneath his feet. Branches crunch under his boots and shadows shift in the light, it’s harder to tell the time, whether it’s even night or day. He mostly just lets his legs carry him whichever way he may go and only after he’s been walking quite a while does he realize he might be lost.

He’ll probably figure it out. He turns back and, not twenty feet behind him, there’s a young man sitting on a fallen tree. Off had just walked past that tree a moment before and he _knows_ there hadn’t been anyone there.

The guy doesn’t look particularly threatening. In fact, if his appearance and aura weren’t so strange, Off might say he looked rather sweet with his soft features and pouting lips, his overall size. As it is, and despite the eerie tension in the air, Off smiles at him.

Smiling at least should help _him_ look non-threatening.

Meanwhile, the man on the tree takes it to mean this human must be an idiot. A human had wandered through the woods without a care in the world as to what he had disturbed, had walked through the veil and ignored the warning signs. Or had perhaps been too dense to notice them in the first place. Some humans really just didn’t seem to know any better.

The fairy hops off the tree trunk and saunters a few steps forward, watching the human carefully. The human may be taller, but he knows he’s more powerful, especially here in his domain.

They stare at each other and the human finally nods to him in acknowledgement—not at all the bow he _deserves_ , as if the human can’t sense he’s in the presence of royalty.

“Call me Gun,” he says finally, giving the human a once-over. Not bad-looking, for a human. He could never compare to Gun’s own ethereal beauty, but not bad.

“Gun?” the human repeats.

Gun nods, batting his eyelashes, pouting in annoyance. “And what’s your name?”

“Off,” the human replies.

“‘Off’? Off what?”

Off smiles. “I know you can’t give your name to a fairy.”

So the human isn’t completely stupid. Given how brazen he’d been entering the woods, Gun has to give him some credit for realizing that he is facing something _inhuman_ , no matter how much the human mind loves convincing those simple creatures to explain anything supernatural away.

He doesn’t give this _Off_ guy the compliment, but a smirk should suffice. The human has, after all, been blessed by even gazing upon his visage.

“How do you know what I am?” Gun asks instead.

“Unnaturally cute,” Off replies. “Can’t be human.” He doesn’t say that along with those stories warning him away from these woods, there had been those _rumors_ about what should happen to those who entered. Rumors that may have mentioned the word “fae” once or twice.

Gun rolls his eyes. “You want to make a deal?”

With a chuckle, Off tilts his head. “What kind of deal?”

“You tell me your name…”

“And what do I get?”

Gun lifts his chin, giving it a good tap in thought with his fingertips. Finally, he says, “A kiss.”

Off, pragmatic as ever, counters the offer. “A kiss for each letter.”

“How many letters?”

“Six.”

Between the human’s looks, that he’d known, that he offers a playful challenge, Gun is rather intrigued. Letting out a long sigh and trying to look put-upon instead of eager at the prospect, Gun says, “Fine.”

“ _And_ one now to seal the deal.”

Gun blinks. It’s a simple deal. “How do I know you won’t try to run away after one? Force me to set my minions on you for trying to break our deal?”

Off takes a moment, quirks an eyebrow, and his gaze lingers on Gun’s lips. “I’ll come back.”

Huffing as if Off’s response is anything less than expected given the deal he suggested, Gun tilts his chin up in offering. “It’s a deal.” He tugs at the collar of Off’s shirt, gets him _just_ close enough that the human still must make the final decision.

Off’s breath is hot against his lips as a little sound of amusement, excitement escapes and he’s pressing their lips together. It’s a good kiss, chaste though it may be. The kind of kiss that promises more should you only be so good as to wait.

Gun is left just a little bit stunned. It’s been a while since he’s gotten to kiss someone. Really, the deal doubly benefits him, but there’s no way he’ll let on to Off. Instead he straightens up, looks Off square in the eye. “Don’t make me wait for too long. I can get impatient, and when I get impatient, it tends not to go well.”

Off laughs, his eyes dancing. He takes a step back as if he knows he’s nearly back through the veil. “I’ll be back tomorrow,” he grins, “Nong Gun.”

Gun sputters after him but doesn’t follow. This human has only lived a couple of decades, has no land to his name, and dares to call a _prince_ this way? Gun hopes none of the spirits were listening in.

But a part of him only whispers, in a voice uncannily like Off’s, _Tomorrow_.


	2. leave a trace of you and me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **J**

Off wakes up the next morning chasing the shadow of a dream. A dream in which he kissed soft lips then found sharp teeth.

He isn’t sure what he’s feeling other than excitement.

He gets ready, the lingering sentiment that he’d go back to the woods in his mind. He meets up with Tay and it only takes a little while before Tay is snapping his fingers in front of Off’s face.

“Peng! Ai’Peng!” Tay huffs. “What’s wrong with you?”

Off shakes his head. It feels like yesterday must’ve been a dream in the normalcy of his actual life. Why would he wander out into the woods? Why would he just accept the existence of fae beings without a second thought?

Why would he kiss someone he’d only just met, especially under such suspicious circumstances?

But how could he have so clearly imagined a being so cute, so ethereal? How could he have imagined lips so very soft?

It’s confusing and Off can’t get those lips off his mind. And, really, those eyes. Had those eyes hypnotized him?

If he goes into the forest again today, will he find Gun or will he find only the trees?

“You look stupider than usual,” Tay says and when Off only grunts in acknowledgement at Tay’s comment, Tay _knows_ Off hasn’t been listening. That would usually earn him a smack. He’s actually not sure if he’s more annoyed Off isn’t listening than if he’d been hit.

After another moment, he decides the not listening thing is worse.

“Oi, Jumpol!” Tay whacks Off in the chest.

“Ai’Tay!” Thoughtlessly, Off hits his best friend back and Tay, although furious, pulls away and let’s Off gather himself a second.

“So?”

“So what?” Off returns.

Tay glares. “What’s on your mind, Peng?”

They’ve been walking their usual route over to the coffee shop where Tay’s crush works. It used to just be a coffee shop that they liked hanging out in but the new barista caught Tay’s eye and their sporadic visits became daily routine so that he could fawn over a man he’d never had a decent conversation with.

Tay is distracted the moment they’re within range, trying to check for his beloved through the windows. As if they don’t come at this time because it’s New’s usual shift.

Off thinks about answering but he’s not sure how, and he knows that Tay will tease the hell out of him even if he lets on only that he’d kissed a cute boy.

There had been quite some time where Off had told Tay he wasn’t interested in men. Only a couple of months ago, after their years and years of friendship, had he admitted he was open to the possibility. For all his logic, Tay was also the kind of person who liked to believe in soulmates and fate and karma. At Off’s careful confession, he had gone on and on about how Off was finally listening to the fates and how what happened would be as it was meant so Off might as well accept that his soulmate _could_ be a man.

Off had listened to Tay ramble on and on for several minutes before telling him to shut it, much to Tay’s frustration.

When Tay had brought it up again around Arm, Off had talked over him and Tay had known not to press the issue. Not yet.

Off isn’t sure what had possessed him the day before unless, considering that, in this scenario, he had kissed a fairy in the woods on the promise of revealing his name, it could’ve been any number of things. Perhaps the spirits in the trees had loosened his inhibitions.

Perhaps Gun had just been _that_ cute.

Thinking of it more and more, he’s fairly certain it was real, no matter the improbability. Like Tay’s attributions to the fates, he’s not sure how impossible it might be to face the fact that there are fae in the forests.

Luckily, Off doesn’t have to speak, as Tay is nervously opening the door for the thousandth time, almost dropping his phone as he feigns nonchalance.

Their coffees are already ready, of course. It isn’t as if they come here _all the time_.

Off, however, approaches the counter again, much to Tay’s dismay as he smiles at New across the divide. “Excuse me. I actually want something different today.”

New looks a bit taken aback and for good reason, Off had gotten the same thing a dozen times before he’d started anticipating it and it’s been months now without a peep.

Off would get a black coffee, room for cream. He’d proceed to add three sugars and pour from whichever milk pitcher he’d find first.

Today, however, he looks up at the menu, as the seasonal options, and tells New, “Could I get a gingerbread latte?”

New’s brows furrow but he does as asked and Off turns, to go sit at their usual spot and wait, but he’s faced with Tay’s look of utter confusion.

“Peng, you’re worrying me. What’s going on?”

Off takes his seat across from Tay with a smirk. “Ohoooo. Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Tay leans forward. “Did you meet someone? Wait— Did— Did you hit your head?”

Off shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“P’Off,” New calls from the counter, and Off starts to get up before Tay flails at him.

“I’ll get it.” Tay stands up, trying to put on a charming smile, but his eyes are glued to New as he takes the cup and thanks him.

And proceeds to drop the coffee on the floor.

“I’ll clean it up!” he shouts, panicking.

Off rolls his eyes from his seat, watching Tay panic and New come to _actually_ clean the mess.

After watching Tay make a fool of himself and nearly hit his crush in the face multiple times while trying to help, Off waits once again for his drink and, on second thought, asks for two, as he completes the transaction, paying for Tay’s coffee, too.

“Afraid someone will drop one again?” New asks, ducking his head and his voice low.

Off laughs and nods along and tells Tay he’ll leave him to his disastrous love life alone today because he’s got something to do. Tay is almost internally screaming enough to not notice Off walking away with the two drinks.

“You met someone?” Tay calls. “You met someone, right?”

Off only grins at him as he walks out the door.

It takes him a little while to get to the edge of the woods. He starts at the same place he’d begun the day before, hoping to retrace his steps although the actual way he’d traversed was a complete mystery. He’d just sort of...gone. Hopefully the spirits would be on his side once more. Or working against him.

Whichever way gets him to Gun.

He doesn’t anticipate how difficult it will be to hold two cups of coffee as he enters the woods, stepping over roots and climbing over rocks. Had there been this many rocks last time? He doesn’t remember this stream…

He nearly slips a couple of times with no hands to catch his fall and really, _really_ hopes that yesterday wasn’t a dream. If he has to angrily drink two cups of coffee in the middle of the woods though, he will. And only Off Jumpol himself will know what a fool he was.

Off quiets his thoughts, afraid that if there _is_ something, he might give away his name free of charge. Then again, Gun couldn’t see it, so maybe he’s safe. If there are powerful creatures out here in the woods, mind reading doesn’t seem within their wheelhouse.

Off ducks his head under a low branch and a shiver runs down his spine, a sudden chill in the air. “I’m close,” he murmurs. He’d ignored it yesterday, but the feeling is somehow familiar, like there are eyes on him.

And like there’s someone right behind him, ready to reach out and touch if his gait dares to falter.

Instead of picking up the pace, he spins around.

Nothing.

“Khun Off.”

Off whips around once more and wants to clutch a hand to his chest but he’s still holding two coffees. “Fuck,” he breathes, followed immediately by, “That’s such a cliche.”

Gun’s eyes and pouting lips are aimed elsewhere as he says, “It works.”

Off chuckles. He’s relieved to be standing a few feet away from Gun and see Gun again. He takes a step forward and extends a hand. “Not sure how hot it is still, but I got you a coffee.”

Gun scowls at him, as if Off has offended him with such a paltry offering, but he takes it, bringing it to his lips and taking a sip with a pleased sigh.

“Is it good?” Off asks, he takes a sip of his own cup and his eyes light up.

“You brought me a drink and you didn’t even know if it was good?” Gun accuses, but he takes another swig from the cup and smiles.

Off smirks. “We can try new things together.”

He’s fairly sure that Gun is blushing but Gun huffs a sigh and drinks his latte.

“It’s from the place a few blocks away. Have you ever been?”

Gun shakes his head, trying to cover for his shyness. “No. I can’t leave the forest.”

Off grins. “You can’t leave the forest? Doesn’t sound very powerful to me.”

It’s as if the trees still and silence sets, even the air is suddenly stagnant.

“Sorry, sorry,” Off says quickly, holding up a hand placatingly. “I was just joking, Gun. Khun Gun.”

“Better,” Gun allows, and things begin to move, leaves rustling and birds chirping, the wind cutting through Off’s jacket in a sudden _whoosh_.

“Thank you, Nong Gun,” Off teases after, but Gun doesn’t stop the world this time, just glares.

They stand there in amicable silence as they drink their coffees but Off’s eyes keep watching Gun drink, his lips on the cup, the way his throat works as he swallows.

A surge of confidence in the knowledge that there are no other humans nearby, that it feels as if they’re completely removed from society, from the entire _world_ that Off has to actually live in. 

Maybe it _is_ like a dream, a dream in which Off only has Gun and it suits him just fine for some reason.

He should be worried, some part of him says the fae have that unnatural draw, can cause your mind to become not your own, but it feels so good. So right.

Off wedges his mostly empty cup into the crook of two branches and leans closer to Gun. Gun raises an eyebrow.

“Can I kiss you now?” Off asks.

Gun smirks. “Eager?”

“Mm.” Off nods, settling a hand on the side of Gun’s neck. His skin is soft, like he’s never known the decay of growth, of life, the touch of weather and wear. He strokes a thumb over Gun’s jawline when Gun doesn’t stop him.

Gun parts his lips softly, then whispers, “The letter. The first letter of your name and you can kiss me.”

With a laugh, Off gets even closer, lips almost pressed to Gun’s. “J,” he says, then steals the last fraction of space.

This kiss is even better than the last, deeper, Off swiping the tip of his tongue over Gun’s bottom lip, the taste of gingerbread and coffee with a layer of something else underneath. He takes his time, pauses when Gun makes a little noise, and wraps another arm around Gun’s waist, his back, holds onto him.

Finally, Gun pushes him away. “ _A_ kiss,” he says, but he sounds breathless. Do the fae even _need_ to breathe?

“Uh,” Off agrees, dazed. “A kiss.” A stupid smile spreads across his face. “Was it good for you?”

Gun shoves Off so hard he stumbles back, thumping against a tree trunk.

Although startled, the pleased expression doesn’t leave his face. “That good, huh?”

“Get out.”

“Ohooo. Shy again.” Off nods to himself. “I see.”

He doesn’t leave right away, the two talking about nothing in particular—the weather, the coffee, what sort of flavors they like—but eventually the urge to kiss Gun again is all he can think of and Off has to excuse himself.

It feels almost like a rope at his side, leading him safely out of the woods. He doesn’t dare touch it for fear of ruining the illusion.


	3. in the glow of dawn, everything changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **U**

In his dreams, those sharp teeth gnaw at a heart, blood and viscera dripping down small, delicate fingers. Off looks down to see his ribs broken, cracked and bent the wrong direction, one dangling. He’s unsurprised to find the void therein, but when he looks back up, sees Gun licking his lips, Off only smiles.

It’s a bit more unsettling when he comes to full consciousness and he wonders idly if his subconscious is trying to warn him of the danger. There’s certainly an aura around Gun, and what he’d done the day before only a whisper of his hidden power, but when Off thinks of Gun as a threat, it gives him pause.

Gun had admitted that he couldn’t leave the forest.

Really, it’s...kind of sad. There must be other things in the woods to keep him company, but Off gets the feeling that Gun enjoys _his_ company, doesn’t get to talk like that usually. Doesn’t get to kiss…

Off can’t think of that now, the very notion of going back to Gun, kissing Gun, has Off practically swaying over the ground. His hand is on the front door, as if he must rush out now to see Gun, before his rational mind returns.

Maybe Gun really _is_ dangerous.

There’s a knock on the door and Off opens it without thinking, he’s already there anyway, and Tay raises an eyebrow.

“Going out, Peng?” He gives him a once-over. “Like that?”

Off shakes his head. “Just waiting for you, my dear friend,” he intones sweetly.

“You were supposed to meet up with me and Arm last night.”

“Oh.” Off shakes his head. “Sorry. I got caught up.”

“Caught up? Caught up with someone?” Tay leans in close, raising his eyebrows, but then he tilts a bit too far and has to catch himself before he falls over.

“Maybe.” That same smile that he’d given Tay yesterday.

And, as he knows and Tay certainly shows, the kind of smile that makes Tay want to beat him up.

“You can’t keep me in suspense like this, Peng. I’m your best friend. If you don’t talk to me, who are you going to talk to?”

Again, the shrug.

Tay has free hands and proximity on his side this time and takes the opportunity to shake Off vigorously. “Peng! You have to tell me!”

Off shakes his head. “It’s nothing.” He’s still being shaken back and forth so his head shake is particularly confusing.

“Off Jumpol, if you don’t tell me now, I’m going to steal your phone and call every contact until I find your new sweetheart.”

“Joke’s on you, Ai’Tay. No number to call.”

Tay scoffs at Off but then he considers the statement. “No number? Did you find a girl still living in the dark ages? Or is she in the hospital? The hospital still has a phone number, Jumpol.”

Off shakes his head again. “You’re never going to guess.” Even if Tay manages to somehow get in the thought realm of “fairies,” Off very much doubts Tay will guess someone like Gun. Mostly because Tay is assuming a girl. Off almost wants to tell him just for that moment of shock on his best friend’s face.

Not that he and Gun are anything other than two people— Well. Not people? Beings? Two beings who have a deal that involves kissing.

 _Don’t think about it_ , he warns himself again. _Focus on Tay._

“There’s really nothing anyway,” Off reiterates. “What’s going on with you and New?” He glances at the clock. “Aren’t you afraid you might miss him?”

Tay looks alarmed, then visibly schools his expression. “No. Why would I be?”

“Didn’t classes start back up this week? I think Nong New is finishing his last year of university. Didn’t he mention working before class and having to shorten his shifts?”

“Then why aren’t you dressed?!” Tay shoves Off towards his bedroom and Off laughs, knowing he’s gotten away with changing the conversation again.

How long until Tay catches on and confronts him?

With finality, Off hops in the shower—making Tay wait even longer—and then dresses in a pair of torn jeans, a red Hawaiian shirt, a silver bracelet, and a pair of round, green rimmed sunglasses.

When he emerges, Tay sneers at the look, but he doesn’t say anything, already itching to get out.

Off is surprised Tay even waited.

He still takes a moment to check his hair again before they leave, and Tay starts whacking him on the arm.

They eventually make it out the door and Tay forces them to walk far faster than usual.

New isn’t immediately visible through the window and Tay panics harder.

It turns out New is still there though. And today, Tay manages not to drop anything and only makes a slight fool of himself. All in all, an improvement from the day before but still not his best impression. New doesn’t seem to mind, but hasn’t made any signs of _interest_.

He seems fond of Tay. And Off.

There’s some bond there at a basic level.

Off spends the rest of the day with Tay, avoiding the woods. The thoughts creep in and he stretches, shakes out his wrist, pushes the thoughts of Gun out no matter how much something tells him he _should_ be letting Gun in.

Tay manages to tire him out though, keeping him out until near midnight over at Arm’s, getting teased about where he was and just talking, hanging out. Being guilted for missing out the day before. By the time he gets home, he just shucks off his shoes, his jeans, his shirt, and practically falls into bed.

Off dreams again. He feels a burning in his toes, his fingers, traveling through his veins until his whole body is set alight. It isn’t a pleasant, pleasurable warmth, but like fire shooting through him, so painful he wishes to cry out but he can’t.

Suddenly there’s relief.

Hands grab his own and the chill of relief follows as Gun pulls him away from the flames.

“ _Gun?_ ”

He wakes with the name on his lips and has to lie there a moment, glad to be away from whatever it was.

The past two nights, he has seen only Gun’s sharp teeth, has watched himself eviscerated with glee.

This is the first dream to leave him aching, to wake him up before dawn and keep him from returning to slumber.

After an hour of restlessness, Off slips the same pair of jeans back on, a jacket and shoes, and he nearly forgets his keys and phone before he’s out the door.

Light is just peeking over the horizon when he’s weaving through the trees.

Gun grabs him by his shoulders and, wordlessly, pulls him into his embrace. With his height, it means his head is buried in Off’s chest.

Gun is breathing hard and Off doesn’t understand why, but he feels so much better now. Like he’s been hunted every step and has finally found shelter.

Off holds Gun to him, runs his hands over Gun’s hair, down his back, clutches his fingers in Gun’s coat. It takes him a minute to realize he’s crying and he doesn’t know how to stop.

Gun pulls away and cups Off’s cheeks, swipes away the tears until they finally stop falling. “You’re safe, Papii.”

Off, choking back whatever emotion is clawing at him, tries to smirk at Gun. “‘Papii,’ huh?” He waggles his brows.

Rolling his eyes, Gun takes a step back. “Yes, like a lost puppy who ended up on my...doorstep.”

Off doesn’t even care that Gun is making fun of him. He should be worried. He thinks his dreams have been telling him to worry more, but Gun seems to make it all better. Once again, when the world is reduced only to Off and Gun, everything just seems...easier. “Yep,” he agrees. “Your lost puppy has returned.”

Gun shakes his head like Off is too much, but he seems relieved, too. Perhaps more relieved than Off had been. “You’re calling them to you,” he says. He takes Off’s hand and Off tries to pull it away but Gun’s grip is stronger than his stature lets on. His hold moves from Off’s hand to his wrist, to the bracelet there. “This.”

Confused, Off looks at the bracelet, looks at the furrow of Gun’s brow. “A bracelet.”

Gun looks at him like he’s a complete idiot—a not-so-unfamiliar expression—and Off feels somewhat chagrined.

“What about it?”

“It’s pretty,” Gun says after a moment. “Silver.” He runs his fingers over the metal. “I like it.”

Off starts to remove it from his wrist before he can even process what he’s doing. “You want it?”

Gazing up from beneath his lashes, Gun says, “You should keep it.” A flower appears in his hand, as if out of nowhere, he tucks it between the silver links and it turns to metal like the rest. “Prettier now, right?” His smile makes Off suspicious, but he doesn’t feel that Gun has done something to harm him. Instead, it’s like Gun is embracing him over again.

_You’re safe, Papii._

The words return with the feeling and Off smiles back. “Mm. Very pretty.” A moment passes, their eyes locked, and he adds, “But not as pretty as you.”

The smile turns from soft to sharp and Gun says, “Nothing is.”

“U.”

Gun quirks a brow, confused.

“The letter,” Off explains, and then he’s kissing Gun.

Gun seems slightly surprised, but he wraps his arms around Off’s neck and doesn’t let go for a long time, until Off is pulling back, breathless.

Again, they’re caught in each other’s eyes.

Off closes his eyes, rolls his head to the side. “Why do I feel better when I’m around you?” he asks, forehead on Gun’s shoulder.

Gun shrugs, but not hard enough to dislodge Off’s head. “Maybe you’re just horny.”

Off chuckles into Gun’s coat. “Mm.”

Tentatively, Gun shows more tenderness with him. Like he has since the second Off showed up this morning, completely out of it. Scared. Uncertain.

Until he found Gun.

Gun lets his fingers ruffle through Off’s hair, unstyled except in whatever way had stuck from the day before. “You should be frightened,” Gun says. “You made a terrible deal.”

“It was your idea.” Off finally lifts his head. “And how could I resist?”

“I would’ve kissed you for free if I’d known how good it would be,” Gun murmurs under his breath.

“What?”

Gun shakes his head. “Nothing.”

But Off is grinning from ear to ear. “Good, right?” He hums. “There’s just something about you.”

Gun slides his hand down to Off’s and Off’s hand twitches, but allows Gun to hold on. “Of course.” He glances around them. “I’m a prince. I rule over an entire realm.”

“Shouldn’t that make you a king?”

“Princes are cuter,” Gun tells him.

“Ah.” Off eyes his shrewdly. “You’re this cute on purpose.”

“Mhm.” Gun holds up Off’s hand for inspection, like he expects something to be there.

“What’s with you and my hands today? Is there something wrong with them?”

“Not yet.”

Off blinks. “What does that mean?”

Gun taps the altered bracelet. “Keep this on. It should keep them at bay.”

“‘Them’?” Off asks, feeling stupid. “Shouldn’t you be the scariest thing out here?”

Gun smiles up at him. “I am, but…”

“But?” Off presses.

“Keep this on,” Gun reiterates.

“Yes, _tee rak_ ,” Off agrees.

“I’m not your ‘ _tee rak_ ,’ human.” Gun looks annoyed until he turns his face and Off thinks he’s secretly pleased.

He still has no idea what’s going on. He thought fairies weren’t into making smalltalk with men who stumbled into their domains, at least not when it didn’t behoove them in one deal or another.

Off’s thoughts go back to what Gun had said, that he couldn’t leave. Back to the idea of loneliness.

Maybe that’s why Gun lets Off hang out in the forest, beyond the veil. Off even catches glimpses of creatures that definitely aren’t the usual birds and squirrels, although they all keep their distance from him.

He doesn’t kiss Gun. Not for fear this time, of giving up and giving in, but because he does not want to rush their deal, to lose the possibility of seeing Gun. The opportunity.

The excuse.

He doesn’t know if he’ll be allowed back when all is said and done, what Gun wants with his name. Fairies don’t need reasons, though. That’s what he’s always heard.

At one point, Off uses his phone to check the time and realizes he has no messages. Upon further inspection, he has no service. “Oh.”

Gun peeks over, huffs a laugh.

It makes sense. Off props himself up. They had been leaning against a tree and, almost immediately, a soft bed of moss had sprouted beneath them. It was actually...kind of cozy. Which Off would’ve never thought of the woods before. Or nature, really.

He may not be able to contact the outside world—that _separation_ still strangely comforting—but he can use the camera.

“Smile,” he instructs, opening the front-facing camera.

“You should ask permission, Papii,” Gun chides but he’s relaxed, just rests his head on Off’s shoulder sweetly.

Off snaps the photo but upon closer inspection there’s something about the picture that doesn’t look quite right. It isn’t just Gun but the way everything is under a haze, some fog keeping things from being seen clearly.

He squints and Gun plucks the phone from his hands. He frowns at it, but he isn’t surprised. “The veil.”

Nodding like that’s all the explanation he needs, and maybe it is, Off fidgets with it a moment longer and pockets his phone. “At least I can see you even when I’m not here.”

Gun goes quiet.

Gun can’t see him. Does Gun _want_ to see him? If he had his wallet, he could pull out the picture he and Tay had taken in that photobooth last year. _Next time_ , he tells himself. He doesn’t know why he should give his photo to Gun, it seems like he might be giving up more than he should if he gives an image to go along with his name, but he wants Gun to have it.

He wants Gun to think about him.

“You should be hungry,” Gun says after another moment and Off is somewhat thrown until he realizes Gun is right.

“Oh.” It’s quite late in the day. He’d arrived near sunrise and it’s already nearing sunset.

“You shouldn’t eat here,” Gun continues. “Not now.”

The words are even more confusing but Off doesn’t feel hungry. Or thirsty. Not...for water, at least. It’s like he’s been thriving on Gun’s proximity, his touch, the energy that surrounds him.

“Papii.”

Off’s focus is on their hands. How long have they been linked like this? Minutes? Hours? Days?

“Papii,” Gun says again. He waits until Off’s eyes are on his. “You need to leave before dark tonight.”

But it’s already _getting_ dark. Off swallows. “What will happen if I don’t?”

Gun doesn’t answer, he weaves another flower into the bracelet. This one, too, turns to silver.

“Go,” he says. Not the harsh, annoyed, _Get out_ , like last time—not that Off had heeded him then. “Please.”

Off’s heart squeezes painfully in his chest and he nods, lets Gun help him up.

He feels the rope again, leading him out.

It’s a shock when his phone starts buzzing in his pocket and it takes him a second to realize that he should answer. He picks up and has barely started to say hello when Tay is screaming in his ear.

“ _Where are you, Peng? You weren’t home this morning and you haven’t answered the phone all day. I was worried. I’ve been driving all around looking for you. Arm and New have been looking for you. I even called Krist and Singto._ ”

“I’m fine, Peng,” Off says.

“ _Did I ask if you were okay? **Where** are you?_” Tay repeats.

“Uhhh.” Off picks up his pace until he’s almost to the road. “By the woods.”

“ _The **woods**?_” Tay sounds like he thinks Off is crazy, and this is just the start. “ _I’ll be right there._ ”

“Ai’Tay, what—” But Tay has already hung up the phone and Off decides he can handle waiting a couple of minutes. It’s getting rapidly darker, however, and Gun’s warning to leave before nightfall seemed serious. As much as he hadn’t wanted to leave Gun, getting further from the woods seems a better and better idea as an itch starts under his skin. He clutches the bracelet and there’s that whisper in his mind.

_You’re safe, Papii._

He holds onto the bracelet, and the voice, until a car flashes its headlights at him and Tay rolls down the window.

“Get in, Jumpol!” Tay calls and Off waves his hands, hopes no one—no _thing_ —heard the name.

“Okay, okay, I’m coming.” He tries to get in, but the door is locked, Tay fumbles the switch, and Off actually slides into the car.

“Where the hell have you been, Peng?” Tay asks, and he’s already pulling away from the woods and Off rubs at the bracelet one more time and then he lets it ago, the light, tinkling sound of the metal, the flowers, as it shakes and stills. Tay’s eyes dart to the bracelet, but then he’s taking Off to the coffee shop. “I told Arm to meet us here,” he explains as he parks the car.

“I’ve been in the woods,” Off admits.

“All day?” Tay asks, unbuckling his seatbelt. He cocks an eyebrow skeptically. “You’ve never gone in the woods before.” He scrunches up his features. “You know better than to go into the woods.”

Off rolls his eyes. “I know, I know.” He worries his lip, stares at the dash. “I had to go.”

Tay pauses. “Why?”

Off’s stomach rumbles and he’s saved by distraction for the _n_ th time. Off is suddenly feeling it rather keenly. He’s starving. “I haven’t eaten,” he explains.

“Or showered,” Tay adds, opening his door.

Off shoves Tay out of his own car before getting out on his own side. He taps his jeans. _Right_. “Ai’Tay— Tayyy, krub. Tay Tawan, my dearest friend.”

“That’s more like it,” Tay agrees. “But why are you being nice?”

“I don’t have my wallet,” Off says, grinning, but then he thinks for a second. “Khun Arm is here, right? Forget it. Arm will pay for me. He owes me from last week.”

Tay is fuming behind him as he wanders into the coffee shop.

Arm easily agrees to pay for Off’s food, although considering their location, it’s a light sandwich and a few pastries. And a hot cocoa. Already, Off is thinking of bringing something to Gun the next day. Gun had really seemed to enjoy the latte.

He takes a moment to really examine the bracelet. He’s no expert on flowers, but the now-silver petals are so cute and delicate, it feels as if they should fall away at the lightest touch.

The coffee shop should be shutting its doors soon but P’Jennie says they can stay past closing time as long as New makes sure it’s all locked up. They _have_ been here a few hundred times and it’s obvious to everyone involved that Tay has a massive crush on New and doesn’t _intend_ any harm. If P’Jennie also makes it very clear someone should keep an eye on Tay, it isn’t because she thinks he’ll steal. It’s more about, you know, the being a human disaster thing.

Off gets a lot of questions about where he was, but now that he’s been located and he’s safe, it’s easy to focus attention on Tay making a fool of himself in front of New. Arm doesn’t get to see it nearly as often as Off does. They’re there a couple of hours and people are just talking and Arm is trying to make Tay look good in front of his crush while also making it even more unbearably obvious that Tay does, in fact, have a crush.

Arm slides into the now vacant seat across from Off and leans in. “I ship it. And you getting lost today was a great excuse for Tay to talk to his _someone special_.”

“I wasn’t lost,” Off returns. After eating, although not nearly as much as he should in a day, Off feels overwhelmed with the people and the noise, even though they’re his best friends. He’s glad Krist and Singto hadn’t come or, heaven forbid, _Gunsmile_. He’d spent the day out in the woods, which was definitely unusual, but it’s not like he’d come to any harm.

He’d felt safer there than he does here with his friends.

After a while, Off just folds his arms on the table, rests his head, lets himself drift into semi-consciousness.

It takes a while before Tay notices.

Tay puts a finger to his lips and everyone talks a little quieter as he sneaks Off’s phone from under one of Off’s arms. He glances at the lockscreen and balks at it. He tucks the phone back under Off and shakes Off’s shoulder.

“You fell asleep, Peng. Do you want to walk back or do you want Arm to take you?”

“Why not you?” Off asks, because he has to.

Tay clears his throat, trying very hard to sound natural. “I’m going to help New lock up.”

“Ohooo.” Off makes a face, amusement clear in his features. “Have fun.”

Tay scowls but doesn’t disagree.

In another minute, Arm is coming to collect Off and Tay takes him aside. “Wait for me tomorrow.”

Off hadn’t been clearly thinking one way or another, but going to Gun so early this morning, losing his whole day under the veil had been… _nice_. He almost wants to run back now, but it’s dark and he knows that he shouldn’t. At first light...

“Jumpol, promise you’ll wait.” Tay’s eyes hold no wager and Off nods.

“Promise,” he agrees.

Tay’s expression eases. “Alright. I’ll see you then.” He pushes him towards Arm with one last call of, “And take a shower!”


	4. i want to be trapped in magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **M**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small reminder that this fic is _explicit_! Which I remind you now for, uh...no reason. >.>

A shallow moat surrounds Off on his little island. He can’t see what awaits him just past the water, can only feel an oppressive presence, looming just beyond. There is light here, but everything beyond lays in shadow.

Off looks down at his own body. No dangling ribs or cavernous holes this time, but hands clawing into his chest, digging in so deep that blood drips down from each nail.

He is shackled in place, unable to move, but that doesn’t worry him. He leans back into Gun’s grip. He knows it’s Gun, even without seeing his face. He can _feel_ it.

In the flickering light, the water shines like silver, little pink petals floating on the surface.

Off awakens feeling familiarly-strange. Strange in a way that he kind of likes, like someone out there is keeping the monsters at bay.

Better the devil you know, right?

He showers, gets dressed and ready, plotting out what he’ll do after he goes to the coffee shop with Ai’Tay. He shakes his wrist, lets the silver catch the light.

Off is so eager to go, he ends up waiting outside the door for Tay, rushing to meet him as soon as Tay is in sight.

“Peng?” Tay says, surprised. “Why are you so...energetic?”

“Can’t I be excited to see my most beloved friend?”

Tay frowns. “No.”

Off smiles.

“Jumpol, I’m going to ask you a serious question and I need you to answer me seriously.”

Rolling his eyes, Off nods. “Fine.”

“Are you possessed?” Tay looks him over, being so dramatic as to walk around him for the full three-sixty view.

Off gives him about thirty seconds before he huffs. “I’m fine. I’m me.”

Tay’s skepticism doesn’t fade in the least.

“Ai’Tay, I’m not possessed. I promise.”

“Brain-damaged? Needing to be rushed to the hospital? I called all the hospitals yesterday looking for you, Ai’Peng.”

Off laughs. “I told you. I was in the woods.”

“All day?” As if he hadn’t asked last night.

“Mm,” Off agrees.

Tay narrows his eyes, but they begin their walk towards the coffee shop. “ _How_?”

Off shrugs. “Maybe I fell asleep.”

Tay isn’t buying it, but he formulates his next move on the walk. They’re walking through the doors when Tay says, “Then who’s on your lockscreen?”

Off freezes, but then they’re stepping in and New is calling, “Black coffee, P’Off? Or gingerbread again?”

Off stares at the menu. “Peppermint,” he decides, shoving money on the counter. “Two, please. And two croissants, the chocolate ones.”

New’s smile is a little strange, maybe because he was part of yesterday’s search party, but he gets to it. Tay’s drink is already on the counter but, as New is busy, he’s a bit awkward as he yells his thanks.

They take their normal seats and Off already knows Tay isn’t going to let him slip out the door as soon as his drinks are ready.

“You disappear the whole day. Two drinks? Again? Croissants? And your lockscreen… You met someone, Peng.”

Off really can’t hide it. In fact, he glances at his lockscreen, too, for good measure. The hazy picture does no justice to Gun’s actual looks, but it’s enough to know who it is, to see Gun’s head resting on his shoulder like it belongs there. Would he be this enamored if Gun weren’t what he is? He really doesn’t know. Nor does he particularly care at this juncture.

“I’ve never seen you so moon-eyed over someone,” Tay says. He taps the top of Off’s phone. “Who is he?” When Off blushes, opens his mouth, Tay interrupts before he can speak. “A _ha_! It _is_ a ‘he,’ isn’t it?”

Closing his mouth, Off just takes a moment to glare.

“Sorry, sorry,” Tay allows. “Tell me about him. And you weren’t really in the woods yesterday, right? You were with him? Did you go back to his place after leaving Arm and I or—”

“Ai’ _Tay_.”

Tay covers his mouth to keep himself from talking.

Slowly, Off says, “Yes, it’s a ‘he.’ I met him a few days ago. Yesterday—”

“P’Off, your coffees!”

Off gets up without even excusing himself, retrieves the two cups with a quick thanks to New.

“Is one of these for him?” Tay asks, because he can’t help himself from talking more.

Off nods. “So I should go,” he continues. “Don’t wanna let it get cold…”

“Re-heat it as his place. I want to know more.”

“No microwave.”

“No microwave? And no phone?” Tay laughs. “And I really _did_ find you at the edge of the woods yesterday. Next thing you’re going to tell me is that you’re dating fae folk.”

Off grimaces. “We’re not dating.”

Tay blinks, mulling over the way Off had answered. “Not dating? But you didn’t deny the fairy remark.” He huffs an amused breath. “What? You make some kind of deal?”

Off nods.

Tay is somewhat flabbergasted. “Don’t fuck with me, Jumpol.”

“I’m not,” Off asserts. “He’s a fairy. We made a deal.”

Tay snorts, still in total disbelief. “What? That you bring him coffee and he pretends to be your boyfriend?”

This time, Off shakes his head. He really doesn’t know if he _should_ tell Tay, but given that Tay isn’t inclined to believe what he says anyway, it’s kind of funny. “The coffee is just because I like him. It’s unrelated.”

“Oh? Then what’s the deal? Your soul for a selfie?”

Off tilts his head. “He wants to know my name.” At Tay’s look, he adds, “My real name.”

“Peng…” Tay leans forward, lowers his voice. “You’re kidding me, right? You’ve never been one to believe in fairies, but I know you know better than to fuck with them. You didn’t… You didn’t give a fairy your name, right?”

“No, no,” Off agrees, and Tay starts to breathe a sigh of relief. “Only two letters so far.”

“Two— _Two letters_? You’re giving him your name letter by letter? You’re really _giving him your name_?” Tay practically screams and suddenly everyone is staring. “Let’s— Let’s say you’re telling me the truth—which I hope you’re _not_ —but you’re giving a _fairy_ your name one letter at a time?” He inhales deeply, tries to center himself. “And what do you, _hypothetically_ , get out of this deal, Jum?”

Off bites his lip, a grin spreads over his face that he wants to suppress but just _can’t_. “Kisses.”

“ _Excuse me_?”

Off nods, like this is perfectly normal. “For every letter, he kisses me. I kiss him. We kiss.”

“You—” Tay’s eyes go wide. And then he just...puts his head in his hands. Like he can’t handle the words that Off is telling him.

Honestly, if he were Tay, he might feel the same way. Except he’d probably be making more fun.

Tay is silent an entire minute, which is quite a feat for Tay Tawan.

“The coffees are getting cold,” Off says. “I have to go.” It should give some time to Tay to think.

He grabs the pastries and the cups and suddenly Tay’s hand lunges out to grab his wrist. “I hope you’re lying.”

Off doesn’t respond and Tay’s hand slides slowly down, like he’s given up on life. It makes Off feel bad enough that he goes back to the counter. “New, could you check on Ai’Tay for me? He seems upset.”

That should help. Maybe.

And Off is out the door.

It’s not as early as it had been yesterday, not by any means, but Off is more determined than ever to get to Gun and get to him _fast_. The coffees won’t last much longer before they get into that awkward lukewarm state and so he walks quickly, trusting that the spirits of the forest don’t want to piss off Gun and knowing that he probably means nothing to them in the grand scheme of things.

Having the bracelet gives him a confidence he wouldn’t otherwise have, like something in the forest _wants_ him.

He can sense the “rope” when he goes in this time, invisible guide keeping him hemmed in so he doesn’t meander off-course.

The chill as he passes through the veil feels refreshing now, like a cool breeze on a hot day instead of freezing alone in winter woods like it probably ought to.

But the chill means _Gun_ and what could be nicer than that?

Off doesn’t see Gun before he starts talking to him. “I got peppermint this time,” he’s saying. “And a chocolate croissant.” He glances down, back up.

Gun is there making grabby hands and he gives him the goods, smiling at the happiness he sees on Gun’s face.

“Peppermint.” Gun takes a sip. “I liked the other one better but...it’s acceptable.”

Off tries it for himself. “Hm. Agreed. Do you want gingerbread again tomorrow? Or something else?”

Gun tilts his head. “You’re coming tomorrow.”

Off nods, hesitates. “If I’m allowed.”

Gun wants to say something else, Off can see it there at the tip of his tongue, but he doesn’t say it. “Fine.”

Gun makes them a table today, chairs.

“Why didn’t you do this before?”

“You think I _want_ to encourage humans to hang around beyond the veil?”

“Oh.” Off scratches his head. “That makes a lot of sense.”

“I know.”

Off isn’t at all annoyed when Gun says things like that. He thinks the old him would’ve been, and he’s not sure if the old him is the Off that hadn’t yet grown mature with age or just the Off who hadn’t yet met Gun.

It’s not just the table, either. All around them soft green grass grows, as if unheeding of the winter chill in the air.

Off stands up to stretch, then flops down onto the grass and closes his eyes.

“What are you doing, Papii?”

“Puppies love rolling around the grass,” he says. He lifts his head and peeks one eye open. “Gun?”

“Mh?”

Off pats the space in the grass beside him and, heaving a sigh that turns into a giggle—a delightful sound Off wants to hear again and again—Gun flops down beside him, rolling into his side, sheltered under Off’s arm as if Gun’s the one who needs shelter.

“Papii,” Gun murmurs into Off’s side, and Off can really convince himself in this moment that they’re lovers on a picnic, that Gun is his and he is Gun’s (and he _is_ Gun’s, isn’t he?).

Off hums in acknowledgement, enjoying the shift in Gun’s weight as Gun pushes himself onto Off’s chest. Off doesn’t dare open his eyes, too scared to ruin the illusion, as fingers brush his hair over his forehead, feather-soft fingertips trailing from his temple down to his jawline, exploring.

“Papii,” Gun says again, and Off opens his eyes, can’t bear it anymore.

Gun’s face is hovering over his and Off allows himself touch, too, lets a hand stroke Gun’s back, settle itself at his side, above his hip. “Is it time?”

Biting his lip, the movement followed by a quick swipe of pink tongue over pink lips, Gun whispers, “That’s up to Papii.”

Off hesitates. They’ll be halfway done now, won’t they? It’s only been a few days and he doesn’t know if he can last a few more… If he kisses Gun now, how does he keep from spilling all his secrets swiftly and immediately? He mirrors Gun, licking his lips. “If we don’t stop it only counts as one.”

It’s not a question and Gun doesn’t take it as such, he just trills with energy. “The letter.”

“M—mmh!”

Gun’s lips are so soft but his methods aren’t, kissing Off like he’s starving, that pink tongue of his sliding past Off’s lips, Off’s mouth open unquestioningly to whatever Gun wants to do to him.

Taking the initiative, Off flips them over, sucking in a breath that he hopes won’t mean the kiss is over. If the way Gun pulls him down on top of him is anything to go by, it’s not.

Off’s elbow is propped in the grass near Gun’s head and, dropping his arm, his fingers find silky hair to tangle in as he continues the kiss. It stings when Gun bites his bottom lip, and Off hisses, but he doesn’t let that stop him, even at the coppery tang of his own blood. Gun’s hands are all over him before settling around his neck like Gun has done before, like he wants to ensure that Off’s attention is on him, on the kiss, that Off’s mind should not dare wander.

How could it though? He’s kissing _Gun_.

Off brings his free hand up to Gun’s chest, pleasantly surprised to find Gun’s heartbeat thumping against his palm, quick and brilliant and hungry for this, for Off.

Lips and teeth and tongue are made messy in their methods by the moan that slips from Gun’s mouth, a sound Off is greedy to cover, to swallow down. He wants badly to do more and, if the way Gun ruts up against him is anything to go by, so does Gun. He’s painfully hard against Gun’s thigh but he doesn’t know if he needs any more than the friction between them. Off feels like a teenager, his heartbeat so fast and his blood so hot and every inch of skin tingling with excitement. He can appreciate now, too, the thrum of magic that makes kissing Gun just a little bit different.

Gun breaks the kiss, his eyes are dazed but there’s an unnatural gleam to them as his arm snakes between them. Off doesn’t know how Gun can undo his fly with such ease, but his hand wraps around Off’s cock and Off buries his head in Gun’s neck as Gun jerks him off in only a few strokes. He’d been so close already.

A moment to just breathe and Off pushes himself up, isn’t sure what to do although he’s certain he _wants_ to reciprocate. Gun brings his hand up to his mouth and licks his palm, his fingers clean.

“Ai’Gun…” Off is at a total loss watching him. He’s forgotten Gun’s needs as he’s lost again in his own.

Gun swallows, licks his lips. “Isn’t that a bit too disrespectful?”

Off chuckles. “You call me Papii…”

Gun huffs, but he grabs Off’s hand, guides it down. “ _Papii_ …”

Off is much clumsier when he takes Gun in hand. He’s never touched a cock other than his own and the angle is a little different, but, fuck, he would do anything to please Gun. Gun, splayed out in the grass, looking far more wrecked than he has any right to look, if only for the sake of Off’s sanity. He watches every miniscule expression as he touches Gun, a thrill of pride every time Gun’s breath catches or Gun keens. They can only look at each other and Gun seems to know how much Off wants to kiss him again, so when he bucks his hips, falling over the edge, he pulls Off down and sinks his teeth into Off’s neck instead.

After, his tongue soothes the bite.

Extricating himself, Gun cleans up. Off isn’t sure what Gun does, but Off himself is even more out of it than a man past the veil into the fairy realm is normally.

But it all seems so perfectly right. He ends up pulling out his phone again, curious, takes a candid shot of Gun as he picks up his coffee cup forlornly.

It’s cute and Off says as much, manages to capture Gun looking over at him.

“Let me try,” Gun says, holding out his hand.

Off hands his phone over, wondering if he should explain or if Gun will find it too patronizing. Gun fiddles with it a moment, then takes a picture of Off as Off pushes himself up into a seated position, flowers start springing up around him.

“Cute,” Gun assesses, returning the compliment.

Off holds up a hand, warding Gun away, but then he remembers something. He pulls out his wallet and rummages around the nooks and crannies a minute before he’s pulling out the picture. “Here.”

Curious, Gun drops the phone to his side and carefully takes the photo. He just stares at it and Off starts to feel self-conscious.

“It’s just a stupid picture of me and Ai’Tay. My best friend.”

Gun continues holding it out, awkwardly, like he doesn’t know what to do with it.

“You can keep it. If you want.” Off struggles to stand up. “Or I can take it back. I just thought you might—”

“Gun will keep it,” Gun says, and he presses it to his chest. It shimmers and disappears.

Off gulps. He doesn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but he’s more certain than ever that Gun doesn’t hold any ill-intent towards him. And hopefully none towards Tay, but who is he to say. He scratches his head, changing the subject. “I should be hungry now, right? Why am I not hungry?”

“You don’t age here,” Gun tells him. “It’s why you’re not hungry or thirsty.”

“What keeps me going then?”

“The power beyond the veil.”

“And what’s the power here? Where does it come from?”

“Here?” Gun purses his lips, looks away. “From me.”

“Ohooo.” Off steps in close. “So much power for such a tiny little fairy.”

Gun has to hold up a hand, to keep the distance between them. “Don’t step closer.”

“Why?”

“Our deal,” Gun says. “The magic has to be honored.”

“But—”

“Loopholes are in our design,” Gun continues. “But we cannot cheat the magic.”

“What happens if a fairy purposely cheats a deal?” Off asks, earnest in all his curiosity. He wants to know about fairies only in that he wants to know about Gun.

“We start to lose our power.”

“What happens if you lose your power?”

Gun seems to read Off’s thoughts because he shakes his head. “You’re wondering if I’ll just become mortal but it’s more than that. It’s not just me who relies on the power. All this?” He gestures to the trees, the creatures, the spirits. “All this relies on me.”

“But—”

“ _Papii_ ,” and Gun stresses the nickname. “You shouldn’t be so eager to give up your name either.”

Off nods, disappointed as he is. Gun looks so bright and so beautiful. He’s really _glowing_.

...In the darkness.

Off stares at the sun. “Ai— Nong—” He clears his throat. “Khun Gun, krub.”

“What is it?”

“It’s dark,” he says sheepishly.

Gun’s eyes widen. “I should’ve forced you to leave.” He starts to pace, turns back. “I can’t let you go now.”

“So let me stay here,” Off assesses. “With you.”

“Your friends will worry again,” Gun replies.

Off frowns. “You knew?”

“Of course I know. I hear whispers all through the forest, down to the borders with the human world.”

“Whispers? Did you...hear anything else?”

Gun waves away the question. “I told you. I hear all sorts of things.”

Off swallows. Maybe Gun hadn’t heard Tay calling him by his name. He’s lucky. And this would’ve all been over then, right? If Gun had heard Tay.

But Gun _hadn’t_.

Right?

“Should I leave?”

Gun shakes his head. “It’s too dangerous.”

“Is it dangerous for me? Or for you?” Off asks, hoping it’s the former, hoping for another sign of Gun’s possible affection even if it could be seen as protecting an asset.

“For you,” Gun answers, caught up in his thoughts. “For both of us.”

“Oh?”

“As long as we have a deal, my power is linked to you,” Gun continues, and Off feels more disheartened than he ought to. “There are some things that can sever that power, feed on it. Some can even follow the energy, siphon it from its source.”

“You,” Off translates. “They could follow me back to you and...and take your power? Why would fairies make deals if it’s this much risk?”

“It’s not.” Gun isn’t looking at Off. “It’s this particular deal.”

He doesn’t go into more detail and Off very much wants to press him...but he also wants to stay, and making Gun angry definitely isn’t the way to do that.

Gun is whispering to something Off can’t see except for in the incandescent flicker of a shape.

“Gun.”

“Mh?”

“Can I stay with you?” Off asks again.

Gun seems to think it’s a horrible idea, but he waves a hand and Off follows him between two trees that emerge from the ground just then, forming an arch. An entry.

Off steps through and he’s in a bedroom. It doesn’t have a roof so much a thickly twined ivy, the canopy of the trees. The bed looks lush enough.

Alive. Branches curving and crossing to make something beautiful, something _inviting_.

Off wonders why, if he’s not hungry, not thirsty, he’s so tired.

The way fae magic works is mysterious.

Off yawns, crawling onto the bed. He’s not sure what it is, but it feels soft and clean and comforting. Gun is running his hands over the trunks of saplings that seem to grow larger with every second that passes. Head heavy, Off manages to ask, “Will you sleep here with me?” He can barely keep his eyes open. “Do fairies sleep?”

“Gun will stay with you,” Gun says, which doesn’t truly answer either question, but Off feels better hearing it anyway.

“Good,” Off murmurs, and then he’s out.


	5. i want no world (for you are my world)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **P**

Off wakes from a dreamless sleep to find his head in Gun’s lap, Gun’s fingers in his hair, stroking softly.

“Gun?” he asks, groggy. It doesn’t seem real, and as he takes in his surroundings, they’re even less familiar than they’d been the night before. The “bedroom” is far more like an actual bedroom now, the trees so close they’re growing into each other, forming solid walls.

“Papii,” Gun greets, his voice soft. “It’s light. You should go home.”

Off pouts up at him. “You want me to go?”

“Tay is looking for you,” Gun says.

Off perks up a little more at that, worry worming its way into his gut. The divide between his “real life” and this life that appeals more and more each day is thinning and he doesn’t like it. He doesn’t like feeling like just anyone could invade what feels like a paradise. “How do you know?”

“He wants to come into the forest,” Gun explains.

Rubbing at his face, Off frowns. “Wants to?”

Gun nods.

“How… How do you know that, Gun?”

Gun holds up the picture Off had given him the day before and Off snatches it back. “Ai’Gun, that’s an invasion of privacy.”

The picture disappears again, but only from Off’s hand, reappearing between Gun’s fingers. “You gave it to me,” Gun explains. “It’s mine.” He continues, “He’s thinking of coming into my domain. I can sense any human who tries to enter. I just know it’s your Tay because you gave me the photo.”

Off’s frown deepens, but he actually feels relieved. And, you know, a bit guilty at having given away Tay’s identity to fae folk when Tay had been so vehemently opposed...yesterday? Had it been yesterday? He feels like he’s been here forever, like he belongs here.

With Gun.

“Tay…” Off swallows. “Can he find us? Can he come here?”

“Not unless I let him.”

“Will you?”

Gun shakes his head. Off is still half in his lap and Gun’s hands—the picture inexplicably gone once more—trail over Off’s shoulder.

Off swallows. His words are a test but he doesn’t know what the outcome might be. “What if I asked you to let him in?”

“Do you want me to?”

Silence sits over them like a shroud. _No_ , he wants to say, but then he doesn’t get his answer. But if he says yes, and Gun does as he supposedly wants...

“Off?”

It unsettles him to hear this nickname instead of the other, the one that Gun had given him, that only Gun calls him. Off sits up fully and Gun’s hands drop, which makes it all even worse. Off doesn’t know what to do, what to say. His illusion of safety has shattered and although it’s only his best friend, it feels like a death knell to this new life that he wants more and more with each kiss.

“Papii,” Gun consoles, his hand finding Off’s. “You should go back. I’ll wait for you.”

Off nods even though he doesn’t want to agree to it at all. He wants to tell Gun to make Tay go away and then beg to stay here forever...but...with the real world encroaching on his fantasy, he _does_ know that this is an irrational thought and completely unreasonable and unrealistic and either the influence of the veil or his own escapist desires or both. He gets up slowly and stretches, wanting to waste another minute here while he can.

And then there are arms wrapping around him from the back—he sees a flash from his dream, of Gun’s fingers clawing into him, but Gun’s hold now is gentle but firm, power radiating from him—and he just stands there, breathes. Gun’s voice is a command, but there’s no real threat to be found, almost like he’s trying to reassure Off with his words, “You have to come back soon. We have a deal.”

Off’s hands rest atop Gun’s and he nods, struggles to find his own voice, to sound confident, “I know you can’t wait to see my handsome face again.”

Gun lets out a sound of disbelief but Off likes to imagine he’s blushing. “I have the photo,” he says. “I can see you whenever I want.”

“You think I’m handsome?” Off gets, leaning too much weight on Gun were Gun’s size indicative of his strength. He smiles to himself. “You want to see me?”

Gun spins him around, pointing a finger in Off’s face. “Do you think I’d kiss you if you were ugly?” He snarls a lip in disgust. “I’m not _desperate_.”

Still smiling, Off doesn’t say that he thinks Gun is more desperate than he lets on. He twists it a different way, leans down to whisper in Gun’s ear, breath ghosting over the skin, “I remember the way Gun said ‘Papii’ yesterday.” Gun goes stiff. “You looked so good under me.”

“Of course,” Gun says. “Denying your desires is boring and _human_. When I want something, I get it.”

“So you want me?”

Gun turns his head away. “Stop wasting time and find your friend before I’m forced to hurt him.”

Off is fairly certain it’s an empty threat, and he’d love to keep flirting with Gun—he wants to see how far Gun might let him go if they keep this up—but he doesn’t want to risk it, nor make Gun think he’s questioning Gun’s power.

A new flower appears between Gun’s fingertips and he tucks it into the bracelet. Off doesn’t watch it turn to silver, his eyes on Gun. Gun, who seems to do this with such care.

“Is this some kind of protection?”

Gun’s gaze darts up to Off’s, then back down. “Go to Tay.”

Off nods with more assurance this time, feeling a little better even though he still doesn’t want to go. “Yes, tee rak,” he intones, and earns himself a push.

“ _Papii_.”

“I wish I could kiss you goodbye,” Off laments.

“Don’t get too familiar,” Gun warns, but Off is grinning at the way the corners of Gun’s lips are quirked up, too.

Somehow Off finds himself almost at the edge of the woods without any recollection of walking there. He takes the last few steps out and finds Tay there, looking nervous.

“Morning, Peng,” he calls.

“‘M-Morning, Peng’?” Tay repeats, incredulous and absolutely livid. “You’ve been gone almost twenty-four hours this time, Off Jum—”

Off slams his hand over Tay’s mouth, and Tay is definitely about to bite him, but he murmurs, “I don’t know if he can hear you.”

Tay closes his mouth and Off lets him go.

“Sorry,” Off says, not sounding sorry at all.

“Let’s get out of here,” Tay tells him, but his eyes are darting around the area, as if he might catch sight of something or someone watching him. “It’s creepy.”

Off changes the subject. “Did you walk here?” He glances across the street for the car and puts his arm around Tay’s shoulder, leading him away.

They walk to the coffee shop and it _almost_ feels like usual. Except that the moment Tay isn’t so paranoid as to look everywhere _but_ Off, he notices Off’s neck.

“Peng, what the hell is _that_?”

Off slaps a hand over his neck and winces. It’s tender to the touch. The movement pulls at his lip and he hisses in pain at that, too. Between having just woken and being in the presence of Gun, Off hadn’t really processed pain other than that of leaving and then the panic of Tay Tawan in his sacred space.

“Move your hand, Jumpol.”

Off shakes his head, a tight-lipped smile.

“Oi, Peng, your lip, too? Were you kissing or fighting?”

Off finally replies at that, “Some kissing, some...other stuff.”

Tay boggles at him. “No offense, Peng, but you look like you were attacked by a wild animal. Should I take you to get a rabies shot?” Tay is pulling a face as he looks Off over and Off uncovers the bite only to make Tay _flinch_.

“Is it that bad?”

“I really wasn’t kidding.” Tay leans in and this time, Off lets him. “That’s quite a bite. You know I love watching animals fight, Peng, but this is… I don’t even know what to say. Human- _sized_ , shaped. But the teeth? They look sharp. Maybe some kind of primate? Or a...really big badger?”

Off rolls his eyes. “Ai’Gun,” he mutters and Tay cocks an eyebrow.

“Gun?” He leans forward but his whisper has always been more of a stage-whisper. “Is that the fairy’s name?”

Off doesn’t see an easy way out so he just shrugs, hums his rather reticent confirmation.

“Tum, this is _serious_. I said it before but then you went and disappeared for even longer.” Tay huffs. “Are you under his spell? Do you need me to find out how to break a deal?”

“Do I seem like I’m unhappy, Ai’Tay?” Off returns.

Tay straightens up. “No, you seem happy. Happier than I’ve ever seen you and, honestly?” Tay lowers his voice. “That is _worrying_.”

“You’re worried that I’m happy?”

“Of course. You used to be angry all the time, Ai’Peng. Why do you think I asked if you were possessed?”

“Is it really so weird to see me happy?”

“I wouldn’t mind that you were happy if not for the _reason_. You shouldn’t fuck with fairies.”

Off tilts his head in thought. “I wouldn’t exactly say we fucked, but he did touch my dick, if that counts.”

“ _Jumpol_. Jum—” Tay looks like his head is about to explode. Off enjoys it way more than he knows he should. But, really, it’s not _exactly_ Tay’s business who he fools around with. On the other hand, his best friend is doing his best friend-ly duty in protecting him from danger and convincing him out of terrible, harmful decisions.

Off gives Tay a good minute to go into conniptions on his own and stands up to place an order. It’s actually not New today, so he can’t find distraction that way—two guys behind the counter Off doesn’t know quite as well: Joss and Lee. He’s seen them around before but Tay has only mentioned offhand that they’re attractive so Off isn’t sure how much help they might be. Unless, like, he could get Joss to take off his shirt when he comes to serve their coffees. He’s pretty sure Tay is thirsty enough to lose all composure _then_.

He knows for a fact Tay hasn’t gotten laid in the past year because he’s been so busy mooning over New. This information may or may not be helpful as he tries to get Tay to calm down about the whole fairy thing.

Off pays and returns to their table and although Tay has worked himself into a tizzy, he’s got enough composure now to speak. “ _You let him touch your dick?_ ”

“He didn’t explicitly ask,” Off admits. “But given the situation, it seemed quite considerate—especially for a fairy.”

“The fae do what they want, Peng. They have their own reasons for doing everything.”

“And what are his reasons for…” Off raises his eyebrows, glances down to his lap and back up.

Tay sputters. He takes a new tack. “In less than a week you went from being open to the possibility of dating a man but refusing to discuss it in front of anyone but _me_...to letting a male _fairy_ jerk you off.” A thought occurs. “Did you…?” He raises an eyebrow so high it’s like he thinks Off won’t understand if it’s any lower.

Off clears his throat. He’d enjoyed teasing Tay, gotten caught up in his best friend’s discomfort, but things are getting uncomfortably real for him, too.

Lee arrives with their coffees and Off doesn’t know why he’s delivered them personally instead of leaving them at the counter, but Lee is placing a napkin down in front of Tay before he sets the cup atop it. Off catches the impression of writing and Lee winks at Tay, lingering just a second too long, before he’s back behind the counter.

Tay hasn’t seemed to have noticed the napkin and Off takes a sip of his drink while he watches and waits...and then has to stop Tay from using that napkin to wipe his mouth.

“Who?” Tay asks, staring at the number.

“Lee.” Off points. Lee and Joss are both staring at Tay and then pretending that they weren’t, suddenly very busy cleaning espresso machines and wiping down the counter.

“What do I do with this?” Tay is holding up the napkin, confused.

“It’s a phone number, Ai’Tay. You call him. Or text him. Using your phone.” He holds his up in example and the movement causes his phone to light up and for Tay to see Gun once more. Off, having not realized yet, continues, “Out of the three baristas that work mornings here the only one not actively hitting on you is the one you want. Ironic, isn’t it?”

Tay just points at Off’s phone. “Gun.”

Off’s expression freezes.

“You have him as your lockscreen.”

It’s not like Off can deny it.

Tay starts counting things out on his fingers. “You made a deal with a fairy. You’re giving him your name. You’ve kissed him—how many times now?”

“Three.”

“Just three and you’re—?” Tay shakes his head and continues counting. “You’ve kissed him three times. His picture is your lockscreen. You’ve disappeared into who knows where to be with him at least _twice_ now. You’ve… _had relations_. He _bit_ you.”

“‘Relations,’” Off repeats pulling a face. “Oh, and it’s actually four. I forgot the first time.”

“You’ve kissed four times and…” Tay stops himself once more from saying it. He’s holding up seven fingers. “Anything I missed?”

“I gave him a photo of us and now he knows who you are,” Off says. Better to rip off that band-aid now.

“He knows who _I_ am? You gave him my photo?” Tay hits Off rather hard this time but Off can’t say he doesn’t deserve it. He knows that last one was a bit iffy.

“It was the only actual picture I had,” Off explains. “And I wanted him to have a picture of me.”

“It’s been, what? Four days? Five? You’re definitely under his spell. I thought I’d get to enjoy seeing you so besotted but you had to completely ruin this for me, didn’t you? Now I have to figure out how to fix things.”

“Maybe I don’t want you to fix things. Did I ask?” Off is genuinely annoyed. He shouldn’t have told Tay anything. Well...if he hadn’t said something, Tay might’ve been even more worried with his disappearance...s.

“Of course you didn’t ask! You never ask! But you’re way too happy for this to be normal.”

“Of course it’s not normal. I’ve never…” Off stops. “But don’t worry about it, Ai’Tay. I’ve got it. It’s fine.” Unconsciously, he touches the bracelet again, drawing Tay’s eyes to it, too.

Tay looks like he wants to ask but he swallows down that question. “You’ve involved me by giving a fairy my image. I have every right to be worried, if not just for you, for myself.” He postures like he’s the most important man alive and Off laughs. “I’m serious, Jumpol! What if he comes to get me?”

“Well, Peng, you can rest easy. He can’t leave the woods.”

Tay blinks, mouth gaping open like a floundering fish, finally finds his words. “If he can’t leave the woods, forget the deal! Don’t go back. Why do you keep going _back_?”

“I don’t think you can break deals like that,” Off tells him.

“Maybe, but it’s worth trying. You didn’t set a time limit, right?” At the shake of Off’s head, Tay claps in excitement. “Exactly. So we can take some time to research this and fix it.”

“Ai’Tay…”

Tay grabs him by the shoulders across the table, making both the table and their coffees rock uncomfortably. “Off Jumpol, you are under his spell and we _will_ fix this.”

Off really doesn’t like the sound of that, but Tay is his best friend. For some reason. He probably wants what’s best for Off and, well, Tay had said it himself: Seeing Off this, so stupidly enamored, would’ve normally filled him with glee. They sit for a while drinking their coffees while Tay rambles about how he knows exactly what to do and Off mostly thinks about Gun, forcing himself to tune in when Tay prompts him.

At least Off gets to enjoy the flustered way Tay awkwardly waves goodbye to Joss and Lee before rushing out the door as Off wishes them a good day in apology.

Tay doesn’t let Off go back to his own place, instead dragging him over Arm’s because he says they need back up. Off stops him from calling Krist and Singto despite how much Tay says they need more help.

After they’re at Arm’s, Alice comes by, too.

Off really doesn’t want to explain his situation and he very much doesn’t want Tay to do it either. They all sit there in awkward, but _supportive_ , silence, obviously curious about his neck and everything else before Tay finally says, “It’s been long enough, Jum. Either start talking or I start with how you—”

“I’ll kill you, Ai’Tay. Mind your own business.”

“Mind my—” Tay is fuming. “Peng let a fairy touch his—”

And then Tay and Off are rolling around the floor in Arm’s living room, the coffee table scraping against the wood as it slides out of their way. Tay slaps the bite on Off’s neck and Off manages to straddle him and then Tay starts trying to speak and Off shoves his hands over Tay’s mouth and Tay licks his hand and—

Luckily, Off and Tay are semi-rational humans who don’t want to _actually_ trash Arm’s apartment and they separate themselves, both a bit out of breath and more than a little angry.

“What… What’s going on?” Arm asks, hands out like he’s trying to keep them calm. “You two show up and then—” He gestures at the floor.

Off and Tay are seated on the couch now and give little bows of apology.

“I heard the word ‘fairy,’” Alice asserts. “Tell me more.”

“Peng made a deal,” Tay says, before Off can try to skirt the issue.

“A fairy deal?” Arm asks.

At the same time, Alice, who doesn’t even need to confirm that particular detail, asks, “What was the deal?”

“A deal that doesn’t concern Ai’Tay,” Off tells them. He hasn’t gotten over Tay’s outburst and he really wishes he could hit Tay again, but no. They must be mature.

Alice rolls her eyes and, before Tay can defend himself, repeats herself. “What was the deal?” Off and Tay are glaring at each other and Alice puts a hand to Off’s knee to get his attention. “You know I’m familiar with fae folklore. Tell me. Maybe I can help.”

“I didn’t ask for help,” Off says. “Tay brought me here against my will.” At Alice’s _look_ , he clears his throat. “Yes, I made a deal with a fairy.”

“Tell her what you gave him and I don’t mean your—”

“My name,” Off says.

Arm looks around. “That’s pretty bad, isn’t it? Fairies gain powers from names.”

“ _Control_ ,” Tay corrects.

Alice waves him off. “You’re both right. Names can give fairies certain powers, including powers of control. It also forms a link between the fairy and the human.”

“A link?” Tay presses. “Does that mean the human can influence the fairy, too?”

Alice raises an eyebrow. “Only if the fairy gives up their name in exchange.” She laughs. “But if a fairy does that, I think that’s the equivalent of getting married. That’s not just a _link_ , that’s a fully formed bond. Fairies aren’t eager to give up details about themselves. From all the stories, it seems like they like to reveal as little as possible.”

“So he has your name?”

“No…” Off bites his lip and remembers that it’s already been bitten.

“He’s giving the fairy his name letter by letter so he can savor the deal.”

“That’s smart,” Alice says. “As stupid as making a deal to give a fairy your name is, at least you’ve bought yourself time. What was it that made giving your name so worth it?”

Tay clears his throat loudly and obviously, dying to be the one to say it.

“Errr…” Off doesn’t want to say.

“Tell us, _Peng_. What could be so tempting?” Tay pushes.

Off rolls his eyes, pinches Tay’s leg. “Something.”

Arm and Alice exchange a look. “You can tell Tay but you can’t tell me?” Arm jokes.

Alice tries a more comforting approach. “I’m not going to judge you but if I know the full terms of the deal I might be able to help.”

“We’re really lucky Alice is here,” Tay says. “I thought I would have to research everything myself.”

Off snorts at Tay’s passing of the buck but hums his agreement. It’s like prying teeth even though he’s in control. Slowly, carefully, _painfully_ he begins to explain, “For every letter I give him, he…” Off stares at the ceiling. “He… I…” Off lets out a long sigh and whacks Tay into action.

“They kiss,” Tay provides.

An awkward silence descends upon the room as Alice and Arm seem uncertain whether or not they should gape at Off and, if they do, what emotion they should be gaping with: the utter incredulity that he made such a ridiculous deal or support that he’d finally allowed himself to get involved with a man.

“Khun…” Arm starts. “You know we love you no matter what, and we knew you might...be inclined that way. We’re happy for you. On that level.”

Off stares at them. He thought he’d kept a pretty good secret of it, but that might’ve been just in his imagination. “...What.”

“Oh.” Alice shifts, a bit uncomfortable but still wanting to make Off feel a little bit better, all things considered. “Tay told us.”

“Ai’ _Tay_!” And Off is once more ready to kill his best friend.

“Calm down, calm down,” Arm says, gesturing placatingly. “We support you.” He racks his brains for something to latch onto to ease their questioning. “What did he touch?”

“Huh?”

“Tay said he touched something,” Arm continues.

Off doesn’t answer, mind blanking out anything other than the truth.

“His heart,” Tay replies, snide, and the second Off thinks Tay is finally trying to help him out, he adds, “and his dick.”

Arm chokes and pretends it’s unrelated.

Alice just stares at one of the walls like it’s particularly fascinating until Arm is done coughing and Off looks a _little_ less like he finds his own fingernails to be the most interesting thing in the world. She smiles. “Is he a good kisser? I’d assume he would be, but you never know.”

With a chuckle, Off nods.

“I have to admit, I’m a little jealous,” she continues. “I haven’t found many instances of fairies having any actual _romance_ with humans, but there are a number of love affairs that have been noted. Often the humans don’t end up…” She swallows. “Let’s say ‘happy.’” She forces a smile. “They sometimes become soulless husks or—”

“It’s not like that,” Off interrupts.

“Then what is it like, Jumpol?” Arm’s voice is nice and neutral, like he’s just curious.

Unfortunately, Off doesn’t know how to explain because the mere thought has him waxing poetic in his own head. He pulls out his phone and stares. The haze of the veil can’t keep him from appreciating how beautiful Gun is.

He vaguely sees Tay gesturing out of the corner of his eye and then Arm is saying, “You have a picture of him? Can I see?”

Off is afraid someone might try to delete the pictures, as if that will “help” him. He trusts that Arm won’t be the one, though. Maybe Ai’Tay would, but… Off sighs, hands his phone over to Arm while shooting Tay a suspicious side-eye in warning.

Arm actually smiles at the pictures, tilts the screen towards Alice so she can see, too. “He’s so cute. What’s his name?”

“Gun,” Off says.

Arm glances from the phone to Off, nudges Alice to do the same. “Gun,” Arm repeats. He and Alice share a look noting the gentle expression of fondness on Off’s face at just the name.

Arm hands the phone back and Tay mutters, “This is exactly what I mean. There’s something wrong with him.”

They spend another hour or so trying to figure it out before everyone acquiesces to Tay’s plan: keep Off away from the fairy. They also eat and hang out and try to ignore the elephant in the room that is Off Jumpol. Alice, however, takes Off aside when he and Tay are about to leave.

“Where did you get that bracelet?” she asks.

Off shrugs. “I’ve had it a couple of years.”

“Did it...always looks like that?”

Off shakes his head. “Why?” he jokes. “Looks bad?”

Alice smiles, shakes her head. “Not at all. Can I… Can I look at it a little closer?”

Biting the inside of his cheek, Off holds up his wrist for her to examine. The thought of taking it off barely flitting through his mind, automatically dismissed with the way Gun had told him not to and the way he trusted Gun implicitly in that even if he should question everything else.

The silver of the flowers, all their tiny details, the wrinkles of the petals, they glint in the light. “It’s magic, isn’t it?” Alice says, gaze flickering up to Off’s face.

Off nods.

There seems to be something she isn’t telling him, but she nods to herself, humming. Finally, she says. “Keep it on.”

And then she’s acting like everything is normal and Off and Tay leave, Off being dragged over to Tay’s place next, and Off doesn’t know how to feel except vindicated in placing that bit of trust in Gun. He doesn’t dare tell Tay unless it comes up because if Tay thinks too hard about it, he knows Tay will probably give him an earful.

“You’re staying here tonight.”

Off scoffs at Tay. “What?”

“I’ll make you dinner.”

Off isn’t sure Tay can actually cook but what he says is, “How romantic.”

Tay scowls. “I’m not your fairy. Don’t expect a handjob.”

Off pulls a face.

“What? Like I’m so undesirable? I’m handsome and you know it!”

The disgust on Off’s face only deepens, but when Tay starts to get mad, he laughs. “I’m kidding. You’re very handsome. Lee and Joss certainly seemed to think so, at least.”

Tay is somewhere between preening and pouting. He’s getting hit on but it’s not by New and Off knows he’s frustrated but he also really _doesn’t_ know whether New wants Tay or not. Lee and Joss certainly do.

They’re hanging out after dinner—which was...edible—and Off says, “You shouldn’t go into the woods.”

“You went into the woods! I thought I’d have to come drag you out. Or come find your body.”

Off nods. “I went to find Gun. But there’s more than Gun in the woods.” He swallows, shakes his wrist idly, feeling the weight of the silver. “You should be more careful.”

Doing his best to stay calm, Tay waits a moment for the words to sink in, hoping that Off hears his own advice. “We’ve always been told to stay away from the forest, Jum. Why did you go out there in the first place?”

Off shrugs. “Felt like it.”

This has Tay curious and more than a little suspicious, but everything about this is suspicious so he leaves it there for the moment. He makes Off stay in his room with him, which isn’t unusual, but Tay has more motivation this time to keep Off close. He’s not letting Off sneak out in the dark to go find his fairy, that’s for sure. Or in the light. Since their work had given everyone a three week holiday, it’s easy to keep himself glued to Off’s side and that’s what he decides must be done.

Well, “easy.”

Off’s dreams are fairly calm, all things considered. Maybe it’s to do with the fact that he can still see Gun in his dreams without Tay interfering. He doesn’t see Gun’s face this time. It had only been the once that he’d seen it and Off isn’t sure if that had been Gun’s affect or just his own mind warning him, but given the circumstances around the bracelet, Off is certain Gun had come for him the other times. Gun’s influence, at least.

This time, he’s lying in the grass. He rolls over to see Gun beside him, but Gun is sitting up with crossed legs, his back towards Off. The grass around Gun is lush and vivid green and bright, but the grass around Off is withering. He thinks instead it should be growing and latching onto him like Gun’s powers usually are, but there’s something far more sinister now. He wants to question why but Gun reaches his hand back and Off can _almost_ catch a glimpse of Gun’s profile but not quite, like it’s blurred or...or like he can’t see through the veil’s fog this time.

Off, on his side, reaches out to touch Gun’s hand and the greenery around Gun seems to shrink, the grass around his own body suddenly more vibrant.

Gun squeezes his hand and then Off is awake.

He’s in the same position, his hand outstretched towards nothing now. He can feel Tay’s weight on the bed behind him and sighs. Colors are just beginning to appear in the sky and Off is confused.

He’s not confused by the urge to see Gun, his new constant, but he is confused by the dream. He feels like he took something he shouldn’t have.

But he doesn’t know how to return it.

Off doesn’t try to sneak out. He just goes over some work stuff with Tay which, like, he’d sort of forgotten he’d ever have to go back once he’d entered the woods that first time. They don’t even go to the coffee shop, as if Tay is afraid that letting Off outside will allow Off to escape—or, rather, to become trapped.

Off ends up wondering if maybe Tay is right in some weird way. That dream has put him in a mood and maybe he’s hurting Gun by being around him. In his other dreams, he was the one hurting, like Gun was taking something from him, but there had been a grounding to it, too. There’s something nice about belonging to someone that Off is only just starting to understand, and in the most ridiculous of circumstances.

Gun has a hold over him but he cannot lay claim to Gun. Or...what was it Gun had said? That, with their deal, they were linked? That someone could hurt Gun through him?

When it gets to be evening once more and Off hasn’t tried to leave, Tay seems ready to say something about it. He tries to do it tactfully, a simple, “Do you need me to grab anything? Or are you okay borrowing my clothes tomorrow?”

“I think I have some stuff here. Or did you plan to never give back my shirts?” Off had borrowed a pair of shorts to sleep in and had put them back on after his shower. They hadn’t gone anywhere so he hadn’t felt the need to put on real clothes.

Flustered, Tay says, “Of course not.”

It’s not _bad_ spending time with Tay, but Off would be lying if twenty-four hours with Tay Tawan wasn’t, at least at times, mildly infuriating. And he knows Tay feels the same way.

But they both have their stubbornness about them, which is perhaps why they remain friends after all these years. They decided to be friends and now neither will give in and un-friend the other.

There’s more than that, of course, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.

The next dream is difficult for him to decipher. He doesn’t think it’s related to Gun at all, as it seems to be one of those falling dreams, but instead of startling awake when he hits the ground, he lands in a tree. Or...the tree catches him? It’s rather unclear. He just knows that the impact knocks the wind out of him and he doesn’t wake up.

Off tries to find his bearings and the tree branches twist and curve and gently let him down to the ground.

He doesn’t see any part of Gun: no hands, no back, no face.

But he can sense him and, although he feels alright—pretty good, even—he gets the feeling that Gun might not feel the same.

He’s searching for Gun when he wakes up and nearly falls out of the bed.

After Tay is up and they’re both showered, they head to the coffee shop like everything is fine. Except it still isn’t.

New is there, along with Lee today, and when Lee volunteers to take their order, Off not-so-subtly takes him aside to ask him inane questions so that Tay can have a minute with New. Tay deserves that much. He calls for a black Americano.

Tay and New share a look but Tay leans over the counter to whisper, “Maybe he’s going back to normal.”

Off pretends he doesn’t hear him and Lee asks Off if Tay is single, to which Off hesitates before saying yes. Lee may not be who Tay is looking for, but he doesn’t want to block any of Tay’s options should it not work out the way he wants.

Taking their seats after a moment, coffees in hand, Off sips at his without really tasting it. He looks in the direction he knows Gun to be, as if his inner compass views Gun as his north. He grins, wondering on which side of him moss would grow.

Tay looks up from his phone and Off looks down at his coffee, not wanting to get caught so blatantly _wanting_. Already, it’s taking a lot to pretend other things matter. It’s not entirely unusual, he’s heard, to feel that initial infatuation so strongly you can’t concentrate on anything, that it takes a little while for it to settle in. He’s not sure how much things can settle in his particular circumstances.

His feelings may burn extra bright knowing how short this affair, should it be called as such, will be. It’s halfway over.

Off shouldn’t be so eager to return unless all he wants is to get it over with.

And maybe he does. Once it’s over, maybe he can...recover.

At this point, he really doubts he’ll recover. Nor, truly, does he want to.

Today, after running errands and shopping, they eat dinner at Gunsmile’s restaurant and end up staying there until far past closing because Ssing is there, too, and they get caught up in the shenanigans that always come with this particular group. Finally, they go back to Off’s place. Tay still doesn’t quite trust Off to be on his own and insists on staying over, but Off expects it.

It’s too late in the evening to care all that much, so Off gives only a lip service complaint about it. Tay showers as Off himself settles into bed, and then lets Tay sleep on his bed with him at Tay’s insistence.

In the dream, the mist is thick, and Off starts his search immediately. He’s not restrained physically, but the veil keeps him from seeing much. “ _Gun?_ ” he calls. Shadows shift around him and there’s that threat again, the knowledge that these shadows are not friendly ones. There’s a touch of heat to his back and he stumbles forward, away from the feeling. He checks for his bracelet and finds it there on his wrist like it should be. The petals on the flowers, however, look far more wilted.

“ _Papii._ ”

Off looks up and he gets the impression of Gun, a flicker of clarity, as Gun grabs him by the wrist and the flowers bloom.

“ _Close your eyes,_ ” Gun says, and Off does.

And Off is awake.

One of Tay’s arms is flopped awkwardly across his body and is unwilling to be flopped back the other way as Off tries to extricate himself, as if Tay is trying to keep him in place, even while unconscious.

Eventually, Off manages to untangle himself from Tay, but his heart is thumping painfully in his chest, like he needs to leave. Like if he doesn’t go see Gun, he’ll die. Or, worse, _Gun_ will.

He really does think Tay is trying to help him though, so the decision to go is made more difficult, guilt pulling him both directions at once. He debates it the whole time he’s in the shower, and as he very carefully and methodically gets dressed.

Tay wakes up and starts talking a mile a minute about his own weird dreams and it’s enough to make Off wonder if Tay is affected, too. If somehow being in his proximity is making it worse for the people around him.

In his own dream, the flowers on his bracelet had… He looks down at his wrist. They look as bright and fresh as ever, perhaps even more so than they had been before.

Tay says he wants to get a jumpstart on work and they bring their tablets to the coffee shop today with that intent.

Another black coffee that Off can’t taste but drinks if only for appearances.

He can’t concentrate.

Off makes a show of trying to work though. And he really is trying but the documents don’t make any sense to him, he can’t concentrate on any of the words long enough to comprehend a full sentence, much less figure out what to do with it.

They’re at the coffee shop for hours and, when Joss starts his shift, he brings over sandwiches, saying they’re “on the house.” No one asks him about the bite on his neck, which is for the best, but it’s obvious how much eyes are on Tay, especially when Joss offers Tay a refill on his coffee without further prompting.

Off would be amused at the blatant reach for Tay’s attention were he able to be amused by anything. He props his chin in his palm, elbow on the table, and stares outside.

He doesn’t eat.

The winter sun sets so early and darkness is falling by the time they’re leaving.

Tay checks his phone and his eyes nearly pop out of his head. “I have to go!” he says, and it’s very unspecific but Off knows Tay’s brain is probably giving him too many messages to be able to output something clear and succinct. Tay manages to catch himself and say, “Will you be alright on your own? You feel better now, right? A few days and your head should be clearing.”

Off nods, waves Tay away as Tay starts to look more frantic.

The moment Tay is gone, Off’s feet take him to the forest.

It’s hard to see but Off knows the way by heart.

This time, though…the path is twisted. He ends up looping back to the same place three times before he closes his eyes.

He can feel a presence, something heavy, warming the winter wind as it rushes around him.

Off opens his eyes. He can’t see anything, but he hopes he can project just how much he is not someone to fuck with. Nothing can happen to him. If something happens to him, Gun would be left more vulnerable.

He wears the thought like armor, hardens it around himself. “What?” he calls. “Fight me.”

He feels the chill of the silver on his wrist.

He hears a whisper, something like laughter.

And the presence is gone.

“That’s what I thought,” he murmurs. He glances at the silver but it looks almost translucent, more like ice. It feels that way, too, and Off gets the feeling it could also shatter like ice right now.

The paths make sense again, at least for him. He walks quickly and somehow his feet are sure, not tripping or stumbling as he ducks beneath the veil and finds Gun.

Gun, who pushes at his chest like he wants Off to leave.

It’s dark but Off catches the glimmer of fear in Gun’s eyes and he lets Gun push him again. “Why are you here?” Gun asks, anger coating his voice, hiding away any emotions that might be hidden underneath.

Off can see him so clearly though, can sense the concern underneath. “I wanted to see you,” he says.

“Then you should’ve come days ago.” Gun’s fist is clenched in Off’s shirt. “I waited. I protected—” He stops himself. “I told you we’re tethered as long as our deal remains unfinished,” Gun tells him, composing himself. “You’re putting me in danger. If you want it to be done, we can finish it now.” He uses his grip to pull Off down, their lips so close that they might brush on accident.

Off pulls away, Gun lets him, and shakes his head. He pulls Gun into his arms, Gun lets him. He tucks his nose into Gun’s hair and wraps his arms around Gun’s back and breathes, waits.

Gun’s body shakes and Off realizes that he’s trembling, too, that tears are coming, that he doesn’t know what he’d do if he couldn’t find Gun tonight, if he couldn’t see Gun again. He’d had all that worry beating at him, and getting lost, and the encounter—

“I’m sorry,” Off says. “I wanted so badly to come back.”

“To finish it?” Gun asks, voice muffled in Off’s chest. His hands have come up to grip loosely at Off’s sides, resisting the attachment that Off is _certain_ Gun feels, too.

Off shakes his head. “I never want it to end.”

That annoys Gun, and he pushes Off away. “You want to break your deal?” he asks coolly. “Or you want me to be tied to you forever? Vulnerable? You want my whole world to be at risk?”

This time, when Off shakes his head, it’s desperate. “No, not at all.” He knows Gun is assuming the worst because it’s easier than assuming otherwise, it allows him to lash out instead of latching on. Carefully, Off grabs one of Gun’s hands and Gun’s struggle to shake out of it is half-hearted and they both know it. It reminds Off of when Gun said he preferred the term prince to king because it was cuter, because right now? Gun is being even more adorable than usual.

“Pa—” Gun swallows. “Off, let go.”

“No.” He takes Gun’s other hand in his. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. I don’t want to ever stop seeing you, stop”—and he leans in for effect—“kissing you.”

“Papii, you—” Gun bites his lip. “You shouldn’t want to stay here. To see me. It’s your connection to me that makes everything else chase after you,” he warns, changing his tune. He closes his eyes, huffs a breath. “Papii, are you ready to give me the next letter?”

Off hums, thinking it over. “If I give it to you, do I have to take the trade immediately? Letter then kiss and bam, it’s over?”

Gun has barely started to shake his head when Off grins.

“P,” he says. “J-U-M-P.”

“Jump?” Gun says with a little laugh.

Off nods. “Tay calls me ‘Jum’ sometimes,” he adds, hoping Gun is interested in the details of his life.

“‘Jum,’” Gun repeats. “Cute. But not as cute as ‘Papii.’”

“Someone cute called me that, of course it’s cute.”

Gun rolls his eyes. He seems more settled now that Off has given him the letter, as if some burden has been eased from his shoulders. “You shouldn’t walk the woods at night.”

“So I have to stay here again, right?”

Gun narrows his eyes, but he nods. “The room is still made for you.”

He takes a few steps and the trees arch together like before, and Off can see the room inside. “Does this take a lot of energy?” he asks, but he’s stepping inside, grabbing Gun by the wrist to ensure that Gun comes with him.

“Not really,” Gun says, but Off can’t tell what exactly that means. There are little lanterns floating around the place, providing soft lighting. The moment they’re inside, Off pushes Gun against the walls which now seem much more like walls. He nuzzles his face into Gun’s neck but doesn’t press his lips to the skin, doesn’t want to accidentally waste his kiss—as if any time he touches his lips to Gun could be a _waste_.

He lets his hands wander, rucking up Gun’s shirt to touch the soft skin there, to feel the muscles of Gun’s taut abdomen. He’s so tiny but everything about him, everything beneath the surface and in the air around him, screams _power_. “This okay?” he asks, his fingers already tip-toeing up Gun’s chest.

A noise of agreement, a little “mh,” and Off pulls back to look at Gun. He pinches a nipple between two fingers and watches the way Gun’s lips part at the sensation. It pains him how badly he wants to kiss Gun—lips, jaw, throat, _everywhere_. But that isn’t the deal.

Having Gun in his hands now, he never wants to let go. All the worries and all his reasons for hesitation are gone. It’s just them.

He trails his other hand down Gun’s chest, fingernails lightly scratching, teasing. “How can I touch you?”

Gun raises an eyebrow. “How do you want to touch me?”

Off presses in close, head ducked into Gun’s collarbone to keep himself from ruining this. He runs his hands up and down the sides of Gun’s thighs, hooks a finger into Gun’s waistband while his other hand pushes at Gun’s jacket.

Gun shifts forward, lets the jacket fall to the ground, his hands beginning to wander in turn. “Shirt?” Off asks, his knee between Gun’s legs, which part readily for him. He can feel how hard Gun is already.

Gun shucks his shirt and Off has to look, with what little space he allows between their upper bodies. He wants to bite at Gun’s nipples, to tease until they’re aching and then lathe them with his tongue in recompense.

But that’s too close to kissing. Too big a risk. He lets his fingers pinch and twist and Gun’s body follows suit, like he can barely stand it. Gun searches for friction against Off’s thigh and Off indulges another moment before he comes to a complete stop.

He steps back to catch his breath, to take in the sight before him. Gun looks dazed and angry and like if Off doesn’t come back in the next two seconds, he will take matters into his own hands. But Off doesn’t want that yet.

Off steadies himself, managing to ask the question that’s been on his mind: “What if I kiss you somewhere else?”

The heated tension in Gun’s body loosens a fraction as he lets out a laugh. “You can put your mouth anywhere, Papii… Only the lips will count as a kiss.”

Off looks genuinely upset. “Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“You didn’t ask,” Gun says with a grin. “But you know I love loopholes.”

“Fuck.” And Off is on him. “Ai’Gun.” Off starts at his neck, bites and sucks and hopes to leave a deeper mark than Gun had left on him. He’d heard a heartbeat, and if blood was flowing, it should be possible… His hands traverse a similar path as earlier but now his mouth follows, his teeth just a little too rough as they take in one of those nipples like he’d wanted to. He suckles at one while his hand tortures the other, until Gun is moaning, hissing, head falling back and exposing the long column of his neck, pulling Off’s attention back to his previous target. He nips at the skin there and then trails lower once more.

Off drops to his knees and looks up at Gun, cocks an eyebrow. “I’ve never done this before,” he says.

Gun laughs—laughs _at_ him, Off is pretty sure—but his question is soft. “Does Papii want to?”

Biting his lip, feeling Gun’s eyes on him, Off slips Gun’s pants down his hips, down his thighs, stops there with the sight of Gun’s cock in front of him. He’s not sure where to start, and Gun takes pity.

“Think of what you’d like,” Gun says. “Which spots are...sensitive. You don’t have to take it all at once and if you need to stop, you can stop.”

It’s not very specific advice but Off knows that Gun wants to see what he’ll do, doesn’t want to push him. Off starts with his hands. Even this is unfamiliar, but at least easier. He presses his lips to Gun’s hip, moving slowly inward, a distinct musky scent as he works his way towards his cock, through the curls currently doing nothing to hide him. A scent like earth and rain.

He mouths the base of the shaft, getting bolder as he slides his tongue along the underside, his hand going to Gun’s thigh and sliding its way up, cupping his balls. Off thinks about where he likes to be touched and, as he does, takes just the head into his mouth, testing the feel, the taste. It’s not unpleasant, but it’s not something he’s used to, and he pulls off.

“Keep going, Papii,” Gun encourages, putting a hand to the back of Off’s head.

Off wraps his lips around Gun again, sinking deeper this time, allows himself to get used to the feeling. He starts to bob his head, and suddenly he feels fingers gripping his hair, not in anger but in pleasure, and the satisfaction soaks into Off’s bones. He sucks, listening to the obscene sound he’s making, waits for the obscene sounds Gun makes in response, the way Gun’s breathing starts to stutter.

“Papii… That’s good, Papii,” Gun is saying. “So good.” He can’t speak and Off works harder, even as his jaw starts to ache. “Mh, yes, like that.”

And then Off is groaning around Gun’s cock and he never thought he’d be into this before but now he has to take a hand to himself, to relieve some of the pressure.

“You like it, Papii?” Gun says, amusement clear despite how wrecked his voice sounds. “Gun likes it, too.”

Off moans again, a muffled rumble that has Gun’s fingers flexing, tangling in his hair. He almost wants to stop, it’s hard to keep this up, but he keeps going, taking Gun as deep as he can, almost choking himself in the process.

“Papii, I’m close,” Gun says, and Off grabs the hand that’s on the back of his head, hopes his meaning is clear enough.

It must be because Gun starts to fuck his face and Off tries to go as lax as he can, let Gun take whatever he wants, whatever he needs. Off really does choke when Gun comes, spilling into his mouth, down his throat, but he takes it until Gun is finished.

Gun’s the one who gives him a little shove, to let him sputter and gasp and _swallow_ , and then Off is fumbling the fly of his jeans open as quickly as he can, coming in only a few quick strokes. Off stares up at Gun and, with a hoarse laugh, lets himself tumble back.

Gun creates a new arch and through this is a little spring in which Off can clean up.

He finds Gun lying on the bed and takes the opportunity to climb atop him. “I haven’t claimed my kiss.”

Gun nods, puckers up cutely, which makes Off all the more enamored with him.

“Not now,” Off says, and he presses a kiss to Gun’s cheek instead. “That doesn’t count.”

Gun hums, rolls them over so that he’s on top. “Neither does this.” And he bites Off again, on nearly the same spot but not quite so rough this time. He follows it with a smattering of sweet little pecks of his lips. “You smell good,” he murmurs, and shoves his face into Off’s neck.

“I smell good? With that and the biting, should I be worried you’re trying to eat me?” He’s teasing, but Gun huffs like he’s really thinking about it.

“Fairies don’t eat humans.” Gun kisses Off’s neck again—and again and again—before adding, “Usually.”

“Are you going to be the exception?”

“I’m going to eat you,” Gun affirms, raising himself up into a straddle and holding Off’s wrists. “But not like that.”

Light plays through Off’s eyes, which are otherwise dark and mischievous. He struggles under Gun’s grip and, even if he could escape, he doesn’t actually try. “What if I don’t want you to?”

“Don’t lie to me, Papii,” Gun presses down until his face is just above Off’s. “I know you do.”

“And do fairies often ‘eat’ people like this?” Off asks.

Gun shakes his head.

“Do you?” he has to ask. “Do you...do this often?” The loneliness he’d felt in Gun before tells him no, but what does he really understand? And...isn’t it normal to wonder about your lover? If… If Gun could be called his lover.

But Gun asks, “Why does Papii want to know?” at the same time as he ruts his hips against Off’s.

“Please, Gun. Just…” Off bites his lip. Gun has a nice rhythm going.

“If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll tell you.” At Off’s insistent nod, Gun sighs. “No,” he admits. “Never.”

“Never?”

“Stop looking so happy or I’ll stop moving,” Gun warns.

“How can I stop being happy when—”

And Gun steals the kiss to shut him up.

Luckily it still falls under the “if we don’t stop, it only counts as one” loophole or Off might be disappointed.

Sated once more, Off knows it must be actually late now and he wishes that it weren’t. He doesn’t know what Tay will do if he disappears again.

But he’s mostly naked in the woods with a mostly naked Gun so he’ll enjoy what he can while he can.

They talk for a while, touch each other a while longer, Gun tucks another flower into his bracelet, and, eventually, Off has to give in to the pull of sleep. Just like before with Gun, he doesn’t dream.

When he wakes up, Gun is asleep on his chest, which seems so sweet, makes Gun look extra soft and beautiful.

But it’s also somewhat worrying.


	6. in the gap between worlds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **O**

Off shakes Gun’s shoulder lightly. “Gun. Ai’Gun, wake up.” He wonders about the time of day, wishing for more light and the rather solid thatching of tree branches above him starts to part and thin, let sunlight stream in.

Gun lifts his head, and it takes him a moment before he’s alert, realizing that something is wrong. “I fell asleep?”

“Yeah.” Off watches as Gun sits up, and is then rather surprised, but only for a moment, that their clothes are neatly folded at the side of the bed.

He wonders if Gun will start dressing immediately, wonders if he himself should, if Tay already knows and is ready to take the plunge into the veil and destroy his happy little fantasy life.

There’s a hungry look in Gun’s eyes, and the mark on his neck only reminds Off keenly of what they could be getting up to, but Gun doesn’t act on his obvious interest despite how much Off is hoping that he will. Instead, he tosses Off his clothes and stares forlornly at his own before standing to dress.

How disappointing.

Off looks up into the sky and then back at Gun and he’s not sure what compels him to say it: “Come back with me.”

“Papii, I…” And then Gun looks up at the sky, too. He tilts his head, frowns, then looks at Off.

“You can’t?” Off finishes for him. “Are you sure you can’t try?”

“Papii.”

“Look, Gun, I… I just feel like we’re supposed to be together right now. I feel like—” _Like something bad will happen to you._ “Like we shouldn’t be apart.”

Gun worries his lip, but his gaze darts back up to the sky.

Off finishes dressing and really looks at Gun again, all his fine features, the way his brows are creased in confusion. “Don’t you feel it, too?”

Almost in spite of himself, Gun nods.

“Do you want to try or… Or will it be too hard on your domain here?”

“Gun has never left but...if it’s not too long, if I’m not too far…”

“Great!” Off agrees, although he’s not sure if it is.

Gun takes a few minutes before they go, as if securing everything just in case—just _in case_ , he’d actually be able to leave, which he still doesn’t quite believe. In fact, as they ready themselves to leave, Gun feels frozen to the spot, whether fear or something else holds him back, until Off takes him by the hand.

They leave the chill of the veil and enter the early morning forest, the leaves whistling at them as they go and Off knows Gun can hear them, is catching messages that Off never could.

At the edge of the woods, where dirt turns to asphalt, Gun looks more uncertain than ever.

He must’ve come this far before, to know that he can go no further. Off wants to ask, but holds his tongue. He steps out onto the road, still with a grip on Gun’s hand, patiently waits as he lets Gun take that metaphorical leap for himself.

Gun sucks in a breath and, through their linked hands, Off feels the resistance, as if something were pulling him from the other side, but Gun manages to step out onto the road alongside Off. He whispers something to the trees and then looks askance at Off. “Where are we going?”

“My place.”

And he leads Gun there step by step. For all the power he holds, Gun now seems like a lost fawn, wide-eyed as Off takes him through town. It takes a minute before Gun starts asking questions, starts picking things up and touching buildings and giggling as a bird tweets at them.

“What did it say?” Off asks, smiling because Gun is.

Gun swings their arms together as they continue their walk. “She said I was cute.”

Chuckling, Off sighs. “Of course she did.”

As they approach Off’s, Off puts a finger to his lips and Gun watches curiously, but quietly, as they enter Off’s apartment.

Gun is even more curious once they get inside, and Off is nervous. It’s not like he’s overly messy but he hadn’t gone out of his way to clean up before Gun’s arrival either. It’s not like he had _expected_ Gun to come home with him, it was just a happy accident.

The last time he’d been here was with Tay the morning before so, hoping for some degree of subtlety, Off picks up the random things laying around and straightens up while Gun half-observes him and half-checks out the room in general.

Gun wanders around the space and, after a moment, says, “It’s not like the woods. But it does smell like Papii, and feel like Papii. Gun likes it.”

Off grins and wonders if it would be untoward to pull Gun to him now. They had stopped the kiss last night and given how much time had passed and the change in location, there’s no way he can loophole it into the same kiss. He minds giving Gun his name less and less, as if he had minded much to begin with, but he does fear that completing the deal will break this strange tether that ties them together.

It only takes a moment before Gun is clinging onto him anyway and Off shakes his now-trapped arm.

“Gun feels better when he’s touching Papii,” Gun says. “Everything is like you but otherwise it’s unfamiliar. So…” He tugs at Off’s arm and then pushes himself up onto his tip-toes and presses a kiss to Off’s neck, over what must be horridly unsightly bite marks to anyone but Off and Gun—Off liking that the marks were left by Gun, the context, and Gun liking how Off looks so very claimed, no matter whether anyone knows it was him or not.

Off pushes Gun away at the reminder, wanting to see Gun’s similar mark, although Off had used far less teeth.

It’s still nice to see the red-borderline-purple on Gun’s skin.

Off licks his lips, ready to dive back in, already wondering what Gun will look like in his bed, or on his couch, or up against his wall, maybe even bent over the kitchen table—

There’s a knock on the door and Off doesn’t have to check to know that it’s Tay. It’s the right-wrong time for Tay to show up, right for them to make their near-standard journey to the coffee shop and wrong for the way his intentions are currently going.

He can’t not answer the door. Tay will make certain—very _true_ —assumptions that Off is with Gun and perhaps run into the woods and tell everyone they’ve ever met and…

Off grabs a hoodie that had been slung over the back of a chair and pulls it on, knowing it will give his neck at least a tiny bit of extra coverage.

Gun cocks his head and Off leans in, voice low enough that he’s sure Tay won’t hear him from outside. “See that door?” He points and Gun nods. “Could you wait in there for me?”

Pouting, Gun also seems to have a certain level of amusement at Off’s panic.

“Oi, Peng!” comes through the door and Gun disappears and Off, with a big inhale and a slow exhale, opens the door.

As Tay sees Off, he breathes a sigh of relief. “You’re still home. Good.”

Off tries not to laugh at the word “still,” as if he hadn’t just arrived back. He tries for aloof, annoyed almost. “Mh.” And, just to push it a little further, asks, “What did you expect?”

Tay glares daggers. “You know exactly what I expected, Peng. But I’m glad I don’t have to go out into the woods to start waking up every creature out there as I scream for your fairy to give you up.”

“I don’t think he’d appreciate that,” Off says.

Tay’s eyes narrow. “Don’t try me, Peng.” He lets some of the tension go, watches Off a moment before he says, “But you’re here. I’m almost...proud. Were this not a horribly stupid situation that you had gotten yourself into and continue making worse. The fact that you’re not stumbling through the woods looking for a blowjob says you’ve got some self-control. Or he’s got less control. Or—”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it.” Off knows Tay will ramble for another full minute if he’s not stopped.

“You ready to go?”

Off rolls his eyes, forcing himself to look as put-upon as possible. “And spend more time with you, Ai’Tay? As you continue to publicly denounce my every choice and embarrass me? It doesn’t sound like fun right now.”

“But—”

“I’m here now, right?” At Tay’s hesitation, Off continues, “So I’ll be here. And I don’t need you to keep checking up on me.”

Tay looks very much like he doesn’t trust this decision, but he also knows that Off isn’t always one to be pushed...and that if he waits too long, he misses out on valuable New time. Tay _hmphs_. “Fine.”

“I’ll call you tonight so you know I haven’t been kidnapped,” Off tells him, already ready to shut the door.

Tay huffs, but he leaves, and Off waits a good thirty seconds before he goes to find Gun.

He’d pointed Gun in the direction of his bedroom and he hopes that Gun hasn’t taken that to mean he should snoop through Off’s belongings. Although...if it’s Gun, it doesn’t sound quite so bad.

Off is mentally preparing himself for the worst, that Gun will be nowhere to be found, somehow pulled back to the forest, or unable to continue existing outsider of his domain, or—

Gun’s bare back is to him and Gun is...Gun is _stripping_ , revealing skin only marred by Off’s touch, and Off watches in awe for a minute.

“Or does Papii not want me now?” Gun asks, peering over his shoulder, knowing exactly how beautiful he looks, exactly the effect he has on Off.

Taking a step forward, Off manages to say, “Gun,” before his chest is up against Gun’s back. They play at an almost-kiss and it seems to Off he can feel the air between them keenly, each breath magnetized to draw him in. A shift, lips almost meet, another, this push-pull force between them before he presses his lips to Gun’s shoulder instead, down to his shoulder blade. He thinks of those other fairies, the ones they always show in picture books with those delicate, gossamer wings and tiny little outfits and thinks the image very un-Gun-like but pleasing nonetheless.

“I don’t have wings, Papii,” Gun says, sensing Off’s thoughts as he tends to.

Off grins into Gun’s skin, moving back up again, loving the way Gun, in an action that feels so very trusting, tilts his head and allows Off full access to his throat. Off presses wet, open-mouthed kisses to the skin, his hands traveling around Gun’s sides, sliding up his taut stomach, toying with Gun’s nipples again. He relishes in Gun’s reactions, the little pants of breath, the shivers and arches of Gun’s spine.

Gun grinds back against him and Off starts to move only to realize he doesn’t know what he should do next. Does Gun want his hands, his mouth, something else?

Gun turns in the circle of Off’s arms and, once more, they play at a kiss, their lips coming close but never touching. Gun doesn’t seem eager to receive his half of the deal, although he does seem to struggle with how much he wants to kiss Off, too.

And, Off must admit, knowing that they can’t makes it just a little bit hotter. Knowing how much Gun wants it…

Gun’s mouth moves up Off’s throat, his jaw, and Off’s hands slide down Gun’s back to grab his ass.

“What do you want, Gun?” Off whispers.

Gun sucks at the spot just below where Off’s jawline meets his ear and Off tries to keep his breathing steady. He doesn’t know if he even _could_ push Gun onto the bed and ravish him but the idea is becoming more and more appealing.

“Ai’Gun,” he tries again, and it comes out a rasp.

Gun hums as he kisses along Off’s jaw again and finally pulls back to look at him. “Yes, Papii?”

Heart stopping in his chest, Off can’t understand how Gun can be this unearthly. He’s taken aback every time he notices. Off has to swallow down the thought and try to focus, but Gun is rubbing up against him even now and it makes coherent thought almost impossible. Off just blinks at him.

Gun smirks, wrapping his arms around Off’s neck. “What does Papii want?”

“I…” He wants to take Gun _apart_ , with his hands, his lips, his entire being.

“Do you want to fuck me?” Gun asks, tilting his head, a coquettish pout on his face. There’s no room between them and Off is certain Gun can feel the way he twitches at the question, at the look on Gun’s face.

“Yeah,” Off says, an eyebrow quirking up. “I could do that.”

And then a nearly naked Gun is pulling him towards the bed, pulling Off on top of him, and Off’s knees fall between Gun’s legs and he resists the urge to kiss Gun’s soft, begging lips, readjusting his target to Gun’s chest.

A thought hits him and Off stops, forehead thumping onto Gun’s collarbone. He turns his head slightly, looking at Gun’s face. “Can you make things magically appear out here?”

Gun props himself up on his elbows. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t have any lube,” he says. “That’s not something that your fairy magic can fix, is it?”

Gun sighs and flops back on the bed heavily.

Off groans and pushes himself back up. “There’s a store close by,” he says, hating that he has to say it, that he has to leave. “I’ll be right back.” Or should he take Gun…? No, no. “Stay here. I’ll be back so quick.” He dashes back in to press a kiss to Gun’s shoulder. “So, so quick.”

“Quick,” Gun demands, sprawled out on Off’s bed.

On one hand, Off is overcome with the urge not to leave, on the other, he has to leave as soon as possible and return as soon as possible and get into—

Off goes out the door, already almost to the corner store when he realizes how much of a mess he must look.

Being so close to his apartment, the woman in the shop knows him fairly well. She’s been working here about as long as Off has been living in his current place and he’s on good terms with her.

Namtan, however, is definitely looking at him when he comes up to the register so soon after entering, having grabbed what he needed as fast as he could, and slamming it on the counter with both impatience and embarrassment.

“Ooh. P’Off finally met someone,” she teases as she starts ringing him up. She takes a second to stare at his neck and smirk at him knowingly. “Having fun?” she asks.

Off’s hand scratches idly at his neck, wondering just how bad he looks right now. “Mh.” He nods. “Yes.”

Namtan grabs a juice and shoves it into the bag with the lube and contraceptives. “Keep hydrated. Both of you.”

Tossing her a strained smile, Off hurries out the door and walks at as a quick a pace he can to get back to Gun. He notices the jingle of the silver on his bracelet as he opens the door, having not bothered locking it in his rush to go out. He ensures, this time, that the door is fully locked. He slips off his shoes and jacket and hopes that Gun is still where he’d left him.

Thankfully, he is.

A sprig of green captures Off’s attention and he notices the houseplant he’d had in the corner that had been dying of neglect is now flourishing, creeping out from its small pot like it’s seeking the sun or, in this case, _Gun_.

Gun stretches. “Papii, time seems so slow out here.”

This causes Off to huff a laugh at the irony. He holds up the bag. “Namtan gave you a juice.”

Gun tilts his head, like he doesn’t know why, and then he gets up onto his knees on the bed. “Gun has been waiting so long. How will Papii make it up to me?”

Off isn’t sure where to start—with any of it, much less making it up to Gun—so he says, “Sorry,” and crawls onto the bed.

Gun’s impressive pout returns as he pushes at Off’s clothes and Off stands up again for ease of stripping quickly. “Better,” Gun murmurs. “Much better.” He pulls Off onto him like he’d done before and, although he’s beneath him now, Off has no delusions about being the one in control. Gun is under him because Gun wants to be under him and, in its small way, it makes Off feel like he can shield Gun from this unveiled world.

Their hands and mouths wander, and Off really doesn’t know the next step. Off can be very confident, in the bedroom and in life, but part of him wants to make absolutely sure that whatever he’s doing is what Gun wants.

“Papii, I want you in me,” Gun tells him and Off freezes, nods.

He knows a little about this, but not much. Luckily, Gun helps him as grabs the lube and uncaps it, Gun taking his hand and pressing it between his legs.

Off’s gaze flickers between where his hand is going and watching Gun’s face, decides that the latter is more important considering how Gun is guiding him. His slicked fingers work their way in one by one, at Gun’s continued urging.

“Crook your fingers—”

Off is lost in the way Gun squirms and bites his lip and makes this _noise_ and Off has to do what he just did again, make Gun look like that again. He keeps going, glancing between them, Gun’s cock arced over his belly, leaving a sticky trail.

“Papii, Papii— Stop! Wait!”

And Off pauses, because Gun wants him to. Even if part of his brain tells him that he could move _just so_ and— Off stills himself, with effort. “Mh?”

“Gun didn’t say I wanted you to finger me to death. I said I want Papii in me,” Gun says, words too sure, eye contact too direct. The power Gun has over him almost feels magical, but this was nowhere in their deal.

Off frees his fingers and Gun makes a face but it’s when he grabs for the bag that Gun shakes his head, pouting. “Bii, I just need to grab a condom,” Off explains.

“I’m not even human,” Gun complains.

“More reason,” Off says, but Gun is already convincing him otherwise, and he’s drawn back to him.

Gun is the one who slicks Off’s cock and spreads his legs.

“How do I do this?” Off asks.

Gun strokes him a couple of times, batting his eyelashes. “Papii doesn’t know what to do?” Off has barely started to form a response when Gun pushes him, flips them over so Off is on his back. “Gun can help you again.”

“Will I have to make another deal?” Off teases.

Gun brings a finger to his chin, as if giving it serious thought, even as his knees settle at either of Off’s sides. “This time, I’ll give it to you for free.”

“Only this time?” Off is asking, but Gun is taking hold, guiding him in, and by the time Gun responds he’s forgotten he even asked a question, facetious as it may have been.

Gun’s hands settle on Off’s chest for leverage and his lips are parted as he adjusts to the feeling of Off in him. He murmurs, “Maybe next time, too. It’ll depend on whether…” Gun stops, a smile toying at his lips. “I guess I’ll let Papii figure it out.”

Off is trying to process the words but mostly he’s just trying to control himself, doesn’t know whether he wants to move or not for fear that one move and it’ll all be over. “Gun.” No other words come, but Gun accepts Off’s speechlessness.

“Papii,” Gun groans, lifting himself up only to sink back down. “Papii feels so good in me.”

Gun fucks himself on Off and Off grabs him by the hips, feels like Gun is doing most of the work but at least he can make it easier. The rocking of Gun’s body is torturous and Off’s breathing is already harsh, he rubs his hands up from Gun’s hips to his sides and back. As he gets more used to it, he begins to get more confident. He fucks up into Gun and Gun adjusts. It takes them just a moment to find a good rhythm together but they make it work in delicious synchronicity.

“Gun, baby, bii…”

They speed up, Gun’s efforts becoming all the more labored as he chases completion, his groans almost becoming whines, like the effort _hurts_ but he won’t give up.

And then Gun is coming, untouched, and Off has the wherewithal to say, “O,” so that he can press their lips together, capture the almost pained moan ripped from Gun’s throat as he squeezes around him and spills onto Off’s stomach and Off is still fucking into him, then spilling into him. The kiss is messy, but it’s still a kiss.

They come off the high of orgasm with lazy kisses, Off nipping at Gun’s lip when Gun doesn’t respond for a moment. It urges Gun on and he grumbles for a second before he slips his tongue into Off’s mouth and the kiss deepens. “Again?” he says against Off’s lips.

Off lets his hands roam, doesn’t stop kissing Gun because it’ll be _over_. Something about Gun makes him think very seriously about going another round and _now_. Without ever having separated, it makes it easy to start to shift, to toy with the idea of continuing into a less rushed fuck, to begin again anyway.

Gun’s lips are brushing his without movement, not letting the kiss truly break even as he is too distracted, too fucked out, to do much actual kissing. Off takes the initiative again to devour Gun’s mouth with his own, carefully shifting their bodies little by little until he’s on top this time.

Unfortunately, his doorbell rings. He ignores it as best as he can and it’s easy when Gun is saying, “Papii, keep going.”

Off starts to move, everything softer and wetter this time, Gun’s body more relaxed, open to him. He sucks Gun’s bottom lip between his teeth as Gun’s hands wander his back. Off is about to slither a hand between them when there’s an insistent and _persistent_ knock at his front door.

With the biggest groan of disappointment, Off breaks the kiss.

“Just a minute!” he calls, so that if it’s Ai’Tay at least Tay won’t think he’s gone anywhere never to be seen again, or whatever it is that Tay thinks of him.

Gun is looking up at him like he’s committed crimes against Gun and his whole kingdom, but Off isn’t going to leave Gun like this. He slides his hand between their already sticky bodies and works Gun’s cock as he fucks him. “Come for me again, bii.”

Gun’s legs wrap around Off’s waist and they’re forced to speed things up, but then Off is burying his face in Gun’s neck and it had only really mattered that Gun came again, but then they’re both climbing over the edge together.

Only when they’re catching their breath does the doorbell ring again.

It’s been too long already and if the person at the door is willing to wait this long, Off guesses they won’t just give up now. He leads Gun to the bathroom, runs back and grabs the juice, handing it over to Gun, who takes it and drinks it eagerly. Off turns on the hot water, tells Gun he can take his time to wash off. If it _is_ Tay and Tay asks him about it, oh well. He can say he was getting ready to shower, which isn’t a lie.

Off wipes himself down with a towel he tosses straight into the hamper and slips on the clothes he was already wearing—clothes which will _definitely_ be following that towel into the laundry. He catches a glimpse of himself in the bathroom mirror and can at least flatten his hair down a little, but nothing he can really do about the bites and hickeys except throw the hoodie back on and hope for the best.

Off peeks through the peephole and is surprised to find Jennie of all people at the door.

Confused, Off opens the door. “P’Jennie?”

Jennie smiles at him and greets him enthusiastically but then she’s very obviously trying to look past him, looking around his place.

“How did you know where I live?” Off asks.

“Your friend Tay told me,” Jennie says. She’s already stepped in and Off isn’t quite sure how she made it seem so natural.

He gestures back. “I, uh. I was just about to get in the shower.” There’s the obvious sound of running water and a couple of thumps he hopes can be attributed to the pipes.

Jennie takes a seat on the arm of his couch and her eyes rove over his disheveled appearance. “Alone?” She stares at his neck while very obviously scratching at hers and Off is frozen, trying to figure out how to explain himself. Jennie has mercy, in her way. “I’d love to join you but I don’t want to mess up my makeup. I guess I can wait.”

Off really, really doesn't think he should leave Jennie to her own devices in his apartment, but a slippery thunk has him telling her, “Just a minute,” and dashing away anyway.

He finds Gun sitting in the tub looking soapier, wetter, but remarkably less happy. “You okay, Gun?” Off asks, and at Gun’s nod, he strips his own clothes and gets in with him. It looks like Gun had begun where needs must and Off feels a bit guilty but he soaps up his hands, rubs them over Gun thoroughly, washes Gun’s hair. Off hadn’t thought of himself as someone who particularly liked taking care of others, but the idea had become less foreign with age and now, given how connected he feels to Gun, he quite wants to take care of him, to protect him, much as Gun has probably done most of the protecting with that bracelet still clasped onto Off’s wrist.

Any time he’s alone with Gun, it feels like they could be in their own world, and that’s been most every time he’s with Gun. This time, however, a nagging voice reminds him after a few moments that there’s someone waiting in his living room. She’s not a stranger, but she’s not a close friend either. A years-long friendly acquaintance.

He talks quietly to Gun and Gun talks quietly back and he tells Gun that someone is there, thinking Gun will likely stay hidden as he had with Tay.

When he reemerges clean and dressed but still looking a little more worse for wear with the marks on his neck somehow even starker now, he finds Jennie lying on the couch on her phone.

“You’re still here,” he says. “Why are you here anyway?” He takes a seat in a nearby chair and Jennie drops her phone onto her chest to look at him.

“Ooh, even more handsome,” she coos, then sits up to bat her eyelashes at him better. “Want me to get the other side?” Jennie asks, gesturing to her own neck.

This is just how Jennie talks to him so Off takes no offense, but he’s still curious why Jennie of all people had shown up. He just raises an eyebrow, folding his hands over his now-crossed legs.

“Tay was worried you’d run away or something.” She waves her hand vaguely. “He felt like he couldn’t come check on you so I volunteered.”

“Why did _you_ volunteer?”

“I was bored and the drama sounded juicy,” Jennie replies easily. “You got some secret little _faen_ that your friend doesn’t approve of?”

“Errr… Sort of,” Off agrees and, as if on cue, he hears the sound of his bedroom door opening. He doesn’t want to look but he also can’t _not_ look, noting that Jennie, nosy as she is, has to look as well.

Gun is wearing his clothes and, although not _quite_ as marked up as he is, it’s very obvious that this is his partner in crime. Off knows Jennie won’t disapprove but he also doesn’t know if she can keep her mouth shut. His anxiety leaves him momentarily frozen.

Assessing Jennie, Gun walks over and, when Jennie makes room on the sofa, takes a careful seat beside her. “You’re a cute one, nonggg,” she intones. 

“I know,” he replies.

Oh, no. Gun and Jennie might get along. And they might get along _well_.

“Are you alright, Nong…?” And she’s waiting for his name. Off resists the urge to say it for Gun, somehow pleased at the thought of laying that small claim on him, announcing him, answering for him, showing him that he’s attentive and showing others that Gun is close to _Off_ , thank you very much.

“Gun,” he says. He shifts a little. “I’m just not quite as strong here, more sore than I should be.”

Jennie’s eyes widen and Off laughs, cacophonously, and tries to detract attention from how much Gun had just given away. “Gun,” he addresses. “This is Jennie. She owns the coffee shop I go to with Ai’Tay.”

Gun’s eyes light up. “Did you bring any? Papii has brought me a couple of your drinks but they’ve always been cold by the time he gets them to me.” He pouts and Jennie is obviously smitten with him already.

“Ooh, you’re the fairy boy, aren’t you?” Jennie scoots closer to him. “Nong Gun, I’d be happy to make you a coffee myself if you want to come in sometime. Or I can have one of my baristas do it so you can have something sweet to look at while you have something sweet to drink.” Jennie laughs and pats Gun on the knee. “I’m very serious, though. I think I’ve hired the best-looking guys in the area, other than maybe your—” She thinks back. “Your _Papii_ here.” The nickname comes out of her mouth along with a little smirk in Off’s direction.

“Really, P’Jen?” Gun asks, like they’re already the best of friends. He doesn’t complain one bit about her calling him “nong” although Off is certain Gun is much older than either of them and had given him quite the fuss when he’d tried it. Gun’s attention swivels from Jennie to Off. “Papii, I want to go.”

Off hesitates, raises an eyebrow at Jennie. “You said ‘fairy’... How— Why did you say that?”

“You know your friend Tay can’t keep his mouth shut just the same as I can’t shut my ears. It’s good gossip.” She shrugs. “Why do you think I opened a coffee shop? I get to hear all the latest.”

That doesn’t _quite_ answer Off’s question. “So...you know? Or…?”

“That he’s a fairy?” Jennie starts to reach out to pinch Gun’s cheek and when he doesn’t flinch away, takes it as permission to do so. “Of course. No human boy is this cuuute.” She grins. “What do I care? I’m not the one who made a deal.”

Off scoffs at her but Gun giggles. “It’s true. And I can’t make another deal until this one is complete.”

“Does this one involve why nong is so sore?” Jennie raises her eyebrows high into her bangs, looking meaningfully between the two of them with an intense level of amused interest.

Off swiftly waves his hands. “No, no. That’s—”

“It’s not part of the deal,” Gun says. “Gun just wanted to.”

“Oiiii!” Jennie squeals. “And Papii seems so protective of Nong Gun not to let Tay seem him. I know Tay stopped by this morning. He was whining about how you hadn’t left _yet_ but he was afraid you’d run off into the forest to see your little fairy _faen_ , but looks like your little _faen_ came to you instead.”

“He didn’t come,” Off tries to correct quickly, as if he worries for Gun’s reputation, admit that his fairy prince had not just magically appeared but had to be sought out.

Jennie leans forward, hands on her knees. “He _didn’t_?” She waggles her brows, then turns on the sympathy. “Oh, nong, I’m so sorry. But you know those handsome men aren’t always good in bed. You need to find someone who has to overcompensate.”

Gun buries his head in his hands in embarrassment and Off turns red but starts waving his hands again. “He didn’t come _here_ ,” he tries to correct. “On— _To_ me. He came here, but—” Off stops and Jennie laughs.

“I know you don’t like to owe anyone, Khun— _Papii_ ,” Jennie allows, relieving him somewhat, until she adds, “and with what you and Tay were shouting about the other day…”

“ _Papii_ ,” Gun whines and smacks Off on the knee. “You say you don’t want your friend involved but then it’s you who tells him.”

“To be fair, I think it’s been a while since any hand has been on him other than his own. Men love to brag when they get some, especially with a catch like you. Uiii. You really are so cute, nong. In your Papii’s clothes, with that face.”

Gun laughs, but he’s embarrassed again, and he ducks his head.

“Calm down, calm down,” Off says. He’s not sure what this feeling is, whether it’s jealousy or protectiveness or what, but it’s weird to see someone else allowed so close, and allowed in so fast, so freely.

Gun seems so normal now, despite the aura around him. He has already fit in so seamlessly into Off’s real life and the line he had been so careful of has now been blurred, erased, by his own doing. He was the one who had invited Gun out here even though Gun had been hesitant to do so.

And Gun had said it: he’s weaker here.

Off wonders if those others, the ones that had gone after him before, were still able to reach him now, if rather than shielding Gun like he felt their togetherness would do it instead has stripped Gun of all that keeps the other whatever-they-ares at bay.

They talk for a little while longer, Off getting lost in his head, before Gun starts whining about how his stomach hurts and he gets annoyed when Off asks why.

Finally, it dawns on Off. “Gun, are you hungry?”

Gun nods.

Off laughs. He’d never thought about it, that outside of the veil Gun’s needs might change, that Gun might not be used to normal things like actual hunger and thirst, even if he’d enjoyed eating and drinking before. This is one of the parts that endears him as long as he doesn’t consider all those other dreaded implications.

“Great!” Jennie says. “Let’s go to my coffee shop. I’ll make something tasty for you,” she announces.

Gun nods eagerly, but he looks at Off in askance. “Papii brought me out here, what does Papii think?”

It sounds like a questionable idea at best, considering the likelihood Tay is _still_ there, but it’s such a part of Off’s life that, if he’s including Gun, pretending that he can _actually_ include Gun, it’s a place that he wants Gun to experience. “Of course. You want to go, right?”

Gun smiles at him and Off’s heartbeat speeds up. Over a _smile_.

They send Jennie out first, tell her they need a minute. Jennie agrees, but threatens that if they don’t show up, she’ll tell Tay—but, really, that just means Tay will find out either way.

Off and Gun proceed to fool around on the couch for about ten minutes before Gun starts whining about how hungry he is again and Off is definitely feeling it, too. Hunger for food doesn’t fully outweigh his hunger for Gun, but the aura that surrounds Gun has shifted, made it a bit more evident that Gun is unhappy. Even as he frowns, Gun plucks a flower from one of Off’s houseplants—one he is sure had never produced blooms before—and, instinctually, Off offers up his wrist so that Gun may weave it in with the others, the transformation to metal incredible each time.

They’re walking down the street much the way they had earlier when Gun stops in his tracks. Off can’t see anything but he does notice that there’s an unusual quiet. Although there is still the sound of cars, of people, of fans and phones and all sorts of things, there is no skitter of squirrels, no birds chirping. Upon further inspection, no birds flying. He doesn’t even catch sight of an ant.

There’s a thrum in the air that sets him on edge.

“Gun, what’s going on?”

Gun takes a couple of steps forward and Off grabs his wrist, afraid Gun will run off.

“What is—”

“Shh.” Gun is staring ahead. After a second, he glances down to his wrist and Off, thinking he’s bothered Gun, loosens his grip. Gun shakes his wrist and Off lets go, but Gun takes his hand, twines their fingers. The bracelet feels particularly cold against his skin as their arms bump together.

Off doesn’t know what Gun does, but he does know that belief means something for fairies and, without even knowing what’s going on, he pushes hard against whatever is coming, hopes to hold it at bay, concentrates everything he has on projecting that Gun is safe, that they are safe.

When, in a moment, things calm, Off wonders if he should start putting more stock in belief. After all, he’s already putting his faith in a fairy.

“Is everything okay?” Off asks quietly.

Gun is quiet for a moment, then nods. “It’s fine.”

He doesn’t let go of Off’s hand for the rest of the walk and Off does his best getting used to the feeling. It’s nice being connected to Gun even if sustained handholding used to be one of his nightmares.

When they get to the coffee shop, Off can already spot the back of Tay’s head, but it looks like Tay isn’t alone now and it’s not just because of the one he admires or his numerous admirers. Off can see Alice through the window so he can only assume the other person is Arm.

That’ll either make things better or much, much worse.

Off sort of wants to let go, but Gun seems very much opposed and Off gives up the idea as soon as it comes.

Jennie greets them loudly, “Khun Off, Nong Gun!” like she’s known them both a million years.

Off is only surprised that she doesn’t refer to him by Gun’s nickname, but he supposes she’s trying to be somewhat proper. At least it seems Jennie is on his side on the whole Gun thing and, really, he’s hard pressed to have doubts now. Gun has been nothing but sweet and sometimes even submissive to him lately, even if he likes to argue and tease a bit, too.

Tay’s head whips around but Off very purposely ignores it. Joss is at the register and New is making drinks and Jennie is already at work making whatever it is she planned to make for Gun.

“One mocha and one...gingerbread latte?” Off glances in askance at Gun, who nods. “You can try my mocha, sound good?”

Gun smiles and Off hands over the money as New gets to work.

“I’ll bring you something in just a minute,” Jennie adds.

Then, Off and Gun go to face Off’s friends, like criminals before a firing squad. At least, that’s how _Off_ feels.

Tay is staring at Gun suspiciously, and, although a bit nervous, Arm and Alice are looking at him, too. They seem more curious than worried.

Arm turns to Alice, speaking first. “He’s so cute. Did you know he was this cute?”

Alice laughs and Tay scoffs at them. “You lied to me, Peng. You told me that— that _he_ couldn’t leave the woods. What else did you lie about?”

“I couldn’t,” Gun answers easily. “Papii wasn’t lying.”

“‘ _Papii_ ,’” Arm and Alice squeal together, clutching each other’s hands, but they try to stifle their grins when Tay shoots a glare.

“When I told you that, it was true,” Off says slowly. This morning is a bit of a different story.

“And what is he doing here? _How_ did he get here, Jum— Ai’ _Peng_?” Tay had slipped but he is leaning hard now into using nicknames.

“I already have those letters,” Gun tells Tay frankly. “I’m only missing one.”

“And what do you plan to _do_ with my best friend’s name?” Tay argues. “Alice here knows all about fairies, don’t you, Alice? We’ve already figured out how to break the deal.” Alice looks very much like she _doesn’t_ want to be singled out as the magical fairy dealbreaker, mouthing an apology at Gun for Tay’s words. It makes sense, angering a fairy isn’t smart no matter how much Tay seems determined to do it.

“What do you _think_ I’ll do with his name?” Gun returns, an amused smirk on his face. There’s a little crackle of energy underneath the words though, a warning that someone who has not garnered his favor should not test his patience, but Tay must not notice because he opens his mouth to start in again.

“Why don’t you both take a seat?” Arm interrupts, gesturing towards Off and Gun. He and Alice both stand, grabbing chairs as Off ineffectually tries to help.

Almost as soon as they’re seated, New is calling for P’Off to pick up his drinks and Tay wants to scramble up and do it, get that little _moment_ in with New, but he’s rather trapped by the current seating arrangement.

Gun glances to the counter and back, and rises from his seat. Off looks like he’s about to get up, too, nervous about letting Gun interact with the “real” world.

Gun approaches the drinks at the counter as New puts up another. New points to the two on the left. “These are P’Off’s.”

“Which is which?” Gun asks New.

New taps one and says, “Gingerbread,” then the other, “Mocha.” He smiles at Gun. “You’re awfully cute.”

If Gun hears the noise of dismay that Tay emits, he doesn’t acknowledge it, just smiles back sweetly at New.

Off is pretty sure Gun knows, that this is a petty little taste of revenge he’s getting on Tay for being so aggressive. Maybe Off should have doubts about Gun, about bringing Gun here, but different doubts. Gun had seemed rather displeased with the way Tay had tried so hard to keep them apart, seems so keen on breaking their deal.

Gun returns with their drinks, setting the mocha in front of Off and the gingerbread latte in front of himself. He takes a sip, scowls.

Off chuckles and grabs the cup from Gun’s hand, removing the lid and allowing a puff of steam to rise up. “Too hot? Just give it a minute.”

“It starts this hot and you can barely keep it warm by the time you get it to me?” Gun complains.

“Sorry, bii.” Off is setting the cup in front of Gun on the table, removes the lid from his own cup so that Gun can try his quicker, too.

A chorus follows from his friends, all saying, “‘ _Bii_.’”

Off’s cheeks heat but he glares. “Shut up.”

“Okay…” Arm starts, “ _Papii_.”

Tay is obviously conflicted. This is an amazing opportunity to make fun of his friend for being so obviously smitten, or to be proud of Off for being out with a _guy_ he is romantically involved with— _such progress!_ —but it’s all ruined by the fact that this boy Off is so attached to is a fairy and what links them is a deal. A deal for information, and Tay is certain Gun must have nefarious intentions.

Instead of saying anything, Tay sits there looking constipated.

Off does his best to ignore it.

It’s Alice who speaks directly to Gun, keeping calm and friendly and not mentioning at all what Tay had said about her earlier. “How were you able to leave the woods, if you don’t mind me asking?”  
“I’m not really sure,” Gun admits. “But Papii wanted me to and when I tried...I could.”

It sounds so vulnerable when Gun says it here, in front of everyone, and Gun looks vulnerable if you ignore that aura of strength around him. Off thinks maybe...maybe Gun can’t lie. Or, at least, doesn’t lie. Not really. Taking a sip of his mocha and finding it an acceptable temperature, Off hands it to Gun.

Gun tries it and grins, “I like this one, Papii, but the gingerbread is better. The spice.”

“You’re not what I expected,” Arm says. “You seem somewhere between those tales of fairies with their creepy fairy realms they kidnap people to, and those itty-bitty, sparkly, winged ladies in the revealing outfits. Cute.” Arm laughs, pointing at Off, “I see your eyes, Khun Off, don’t think those thoughts in public.”

“What? I wasn’t, I wasn’t,” Off tells him. He’d thought of that earlier. Honestly, he likes whatever Gun does and right now he likes the way Gun wears Off’s own t-shirt and how it reveals most of one of Gun’s shoulders, dips enough that Off can see his collarbone. He likes the way Gun wears the markings he left, too.

Jennie arrives before Off can get any more embarrassed, placing a plate in front of Gun with a flourish. She hands a sandwich to Off, too, but it’s just wrapped in paper—nothing special.

“I didn’t know you had plates,” Tay whines.

“I just know you’ll break them,” Jennie replies, off-hand. “Now, nong,” she says, addressing Gun, “it’s not anything too special because I have to work with what I have, but I hope you like it.” Jennie pinches Gun’s cheek much as she had before, and Gun smiles up at her from his seat. “ _Uiii_ ,” she intones again, clutching a hand to her heart before she twirls around to head back behind the counter.

“Is P’Jennie under his spell, too?” Tay asks.

“I wish!” Jennie calls back.

It leads to Joss and New chiming in, too, and suddenly everyone is fawning over Gun except for Off and, of course, Tay. Off because he’s already _been_ fawning over Gun and Tay because he can’t get over his distrust.

Off starts thinking, eating his sandwich without tasting it. It’s good that people like Gun so much, right? It’s good, then. They’ll be on his side. Or, rather, Gun’s side. Are he and Gun on the same side? It feels like yes, but with the deal, what if… And Gun seems to like Off, too. He doesn’t think Gun would’ve done those things they did earlier if Gun didn’t like him, at least in some way. And there’s the bracelet— But Gun could just be protecting himself, protecting the link—

Now that Off has brought Gun into his world, Gun might realize that Off isn’t the best choice, should he choose to spend time with mere mortals at all.

His insecurities eating at him, Off starts to worry more and more about taking Gun out of the woods. Really, he shouldn’t have gone into the woods to begin with. But then Gun would be alone…

Everyone can see Gun now, can see how captivating he is. Gun could be with anyone, if he wanted. Off is just some idiot who wandered into the woods and made a deal.

Maybe that’s all it is.

Gun fucked Off because he was lonely and Gun doesn’t have to be lonely anymore.

“Papii.”

Off pulls his focus back to Gun, who puts a hand to Off’s thigh. “Yeah?”

“I…” Gun doesn’t seem to know how to continue and Off excuses them, takes Gun to the corner nearest the door.

“What is it, Gun?”

“There are so many people here, Papii,” Gun says.

“People who seem to like you,” Off adds, bitterness seeping through.

“I like them, too,” Gun tells him earnestly and Off can _taste_ his own jealousy.

“Oh? Good.” Off swallows. It doesn’t sound good at all.

“But being around them is…” Gun is trying to put it into words, Off can see him working. Gun huffs, finally settling on, “Tiring.”

Off wants to make a joke, about how Gun never answered whether or not he sleeps, but then he remembers Gun unconscious that very morning and it doesn’t seem like something to joke about. It seems like something to worry about. He’s so stupid, to have fallen like this. He can see it so much more clearly now. He shouldn’t be this invested in anyone so quickly, much less one of the fae folk.

“Papii.” And Gun is frowning. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Off says quickly.

“I told you not to lie,” Gun tells him. And now, Gun holds Off’s face in his hands. There’s a pull there, a power, and Off nods without thinking it through.

“It’s nothing,” Off tries again and Gun’s eyes bore into him. His eyes are sharp even as he pouts sweetly. “It’s nothing that matters,” Off corrects.

“Does Papii think I’d make the same deal with any one of the others?” Gun asks, getting some idea of Off’s mind like he usually does.

Off wants to avoid Gun’s gaze but he can’t. He tries to smile. “Why wouldn’t you?”

Gun doesn’t answer, he pulls Off closer. “Would it upset you?”

That bitterness might choke him. “What does it matter what I think? Like I said, it’s nothing.”

“Papii, one kiss isn’t much,” Gun says. “I might’ve made that deal with someone else.”

Off nods, jaw tensing. “Right.”

“But it would’ve been just a kiss.”

“I don’t—” Off starts. He shuts his mouth firmly. _I wouldn’t kiss just anyone_ , Off thinks, because he had never been big on touch, on intimacy with near-strangers. And yet, hadn’t he made the deal?

“A kiss is something,” Gun allows. His eyes dart over to Off’s group of friends and he adds, in a low voice, “But I wouldn’t let just anyone fuck me.”

Off feels his cheeks heat and just that sentence, so simple and yet so lascivious, brings delicious images to mind. Already, it feels like a dream, but it couldn’t have been, It had all happened in the world of his everyday life, familiar settings with a character snatched from elsewhere, like some weird crossover. There were enough witnesses, however, to confirm Gun’s presence.

As if feeling the glare, Off glances over his shoulder to see Tay scowling at them and saying something to Arm and Alice, but Arm and Alice don’t look too worried.

“Papii, can we go back to your place? For a little while?” Gun asks.

“What if something comes again?” Off thinks of the feeling he’d gotten on the walk over, thinks of whatever had stalked him in the forest.

Gun hums. “I guess Papii will just have to stay close.”

They go to leave a moment later, with Tay trying to stand up only for Alice to tug him back down.

“Ai’Tay is going to have a fit,” Off says.

Gun stands on tiptoes and cups a hand around Off’s ear, eyes darting to Tay. He just breathes for a second, then whispers, “Good.”

Off listens to Tay’s chair scraping in the background, the rise and fall of voices. He can deal with it later.

For now, he’s got Gun, and he’ll go wherever Gun wants to go.


	7. so that no monsters can chase us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **L**

Nothing happens on the way back, much to Off’s relief. They’re almost back when he thinks that Gun might get hungry again, that he doesn’t want to risk going out too much. He takes Gun to the little corner store where Namtan works.

Namtan, much like everyone else who sees Gun, immediately squeals, “So cute!”

Gun smiles at her and Off lets Gun cling to his arm as they wander the store. He points at various snacks, some fruit, ice cream, drinks. He lets Gun choose whatever he wants.

“How was the juice?” Namtan asks Gun as they get up to the counter, Off dumping an armload of goodies down before her.

“It was from you?” Gun asks and, at her smile, he smiles back. “Thank you.”

“You can lose a lot of fluids when you—”

“ _Oi_ ,” Off interrupts.

“P’Off, what are you _thinking_?” Namtan asks, pretending to be scandalized. “You two look like you did a lot of walking today. Exercise. Do you need more...supplies?” Namtan’s eyes dart to the aisle Off had rushed through earlier.

Gun tilts his head curiously, then follows her gaze and understands. “Oh,” he says. “Papii?”

Namtan doesn’t repeat it the way everyone else had, but Off can tell she delights in the nickname just as much if not more. “Condoms?” she suggests, and she sees Off’s face twitch, Gun shake his head. She suppresses some actual surprise in the customer service curve of his lips. “Personal lubricant?”

“What are _you_ thinking, Namtan?” Off returns.

“I only believe what the evidence tells me,” she says, and starts scanning through their items.

“She’s right anyway, Papii,” Gun murmurs, and Off coughs to avoid saying anything else that might be incriminating.

Namtan hands Off the bag. “Good for you, phi,” she says.

Off scowls at her but still tosses a smile as Gun takes his hand and they head out the door.

They’re back at Off’s house in just a couple of minutes and Off puts away the perishables, and brings the rest to the living room. “What do you want to do, Gun?”

Gun pauses for one suspicious moment and Off knows what he’s thinking with clarity. What Gun says, however, is, “What does Papii normally do?”

Off blinks away the other thought and refocuses. “Er… I work with Ai’Tay but we have a break right now.”

“What do you do?”

Off pulls out his phone and opens up the browser. “I write articles, mostly. Tay does photography and graphic design. We’ll go together to interview people or do research.”

Gun takes Off’s phone and scrolls through, eyes scanning the words quickly. “Tay is a good photographer.”

Off nods, lets out a _hmph_ that only Tay got a compliment.

“Papii sounds so...angry,” Gun decides.

Off takes his phone back and takes a look. The article isn’t new, but it’s not that old either. He skims it again and sees what Gun does. He snorts and sets his phone down. “Yeah.”

“Is Papii angry?” Gun asks. Off notes that Gun doesn’t ask if Off is angry with _him_ , he knows better than that, so he must be asking if Off is angry in general.

“People say I’m an angry person,” Off admits. “Which is...right. Or was.”

Gun laughs. “Papii is very sweet to me.”

“Gun…” He wants to ask. Off wants to know just _how_ stupid he is, so besotted with Gun, but Gun looks so cute, wearing Off’s clothes, sitting on Off’s couch, reddish-purple marks visible on Gun’s neck, where the collar of the shirt is loose and almost reveals his shoulder. Off can’t bring himself to ruin the moment.

“What else does Papii do?”

Off shrugs. “Play video games. Watch TV.”

“What do you like to watch?”

“You know what TV is?”

Gun points to the flatscreen in front of the couch. “I can figure things out.”

Off hums. “How much do you know about the world?”

Gun turns taciturn and Off worries he’s upset him. After a long moment, Off worrying at his lip, Gun says quietly, “I’ve been around a long time. I know a lot about the world.”

“Oh. How… How long?” Off wonders if that’s rude, like asking someone’s age, but Gun looks more forlorn than anything.

“I don’t know. Time doesn’t really matter, for me.” He stares at Off for a second before his eyes dart to his hands. “It didn’t.”

“What—” Off starts, but Gun interrupts the question.

“I know a lot about the world, but I haven’t experienced much,” Gun says, going back to his previous point. He doesn’t say anything else and he juts his chin up, daring Off to challenge him.

Off hesitates, curiosity burgeoning at the tip of his tongue, but he simply nods. “Want to watch a movie?”

Gun doesn’t speak, but he nods, and Off grabs the remote and switches the TV on, picking a movie almost at random, just something he’s watched a hundred times before.

Off gathers Gun up close to him, feeling as if they both need it.

Gun asks him questions now and then but mostly he just curls into Off’s embrace. He feels very human right now, very fragile. He feels like he belongs in Off’s arms.

The movie finishes and they break into the snacks, Off orders in. He shows Gun a few games and they play for a bit, but then Gun says he’d rather watch another movie or something as the food arrives and they dig in. Their hands start to wander halfway through the next movie and Off is struck once more by how nice this is, how quiet and domestic it feels.

“It’s raining,” Gun murmurs into Off’s chest and Off glances out the window. He hadn’t even realized. Gun isn’t facing a window and he’d thought the TV would’ve drowned out the sounds, so he quirks an eyebrow at Gun.

“I always know the weather,” Gun explains.

“Useful,” Off says.

“Mh.” Gun mouths at Off’s neck from his slumped position. “Doesn’t it just remind you that I’m not human? Doesn’t that bother you?”

“Gun,” Off starts. “Bii.” And maybe this time he’ll say it.

“What is it, Papii?” But Gun’s teeth are nipping at the sensitive skin of Off’s throat and his hand is idly rubbing at the front of Off’s pants. He’s half on top of Off.

Off sucks in a breath, tries not to let Gun distract him. He grabs Gun’s wrist but doesn’t actually stop him, still him.

Gun lifts his head to look at Off and Off holds his gaze. “What happens…” He stifles a sound as Gun’s hand presses on him a bit more purposely. “What happens when our deal is over?”

“Afraid of what I’ll do with your name?” Gun asks, smirking, but Off thinks he’s more offended by the implication than he might let on.

Off shakes his head. “I don’t think you’ll hurt me.”

“I might,” Gun says, suddenly far more serious.

Off amends his statement. “I don’t think you want to hurt me.”

Gun’s cheeks flush a pretty pink and he crawls more assuredly onto Off’s lap, more determined to stall the conversation. He grinds down against Off. “Mh.”

“I’m afraid I won’t—”

“Off,” Gun stops him with the word, the use of Off’s nickname sounding stern, foreign now coming from Gun’s lips. “Fuck me again.”

“Gun—”

“Papii,” Gun says, so much softer. “Please.”

For convenience’s sake, Off takes Gun back to his room again, to his bed. It doesn’t smell like him in his room, it smells like _them_.

When they fuck this time, it isn’t playful, it’s desperate. They’re holding onto each other in fear of what happens should they let go. The slap of skin and the pant of breath and the pattering of the rain provide a soundtrack and neither of them truly want it to end, to figure out what’s next.

It has to, though, eventually. They finish, Off spooning Gun’s back, their bodies still linked.

Off presses kisses Gun’s shoulder, wishing he could kiss Gun’s lips, wishing he could keep Gun. Gun is the first person—and he is a person, no matter what other labels might apply—that Off has ever truly wanted to keep, to give in to, to take care of.

“Papii,” Gun whispers, like he’s afraid to speak.

They both are.

“I have to go back. Not— Not tonight, but soon.”

Off nods against Gun’s back.

“Will you—” Gun stops himself. He changes direction. “Will you hold me?”

Off had heard the stop and start, the way Gun had wanted to say something else. “As long as you’ll let me,” he says, and he tries to make it sound light, like he’s being obnoxious instead of anxious.

They’re forced to separate after a while, to take their time bathing, keeping contact as much as they can.

Off strips the sheets with some hesitation, like he’ll lose some memory of Gun in the process, but he remakes the bed knowing Gun will climb in with him.

“Do you dream?” Off asks, when they’re wrapped around each other again. He already knows Gun will evade the question. “You appear in my dreams.”

“I know,” Gun murmurs.

Off pulls back to look at him. “So it really is you?”

Gun nods.

“What about the dreams where you’re eating my heart?”

Gun squints at him. “Have you ever been in love?”

“What? Why?”

Gun shakes his head, but Off can see a little smile teasing at his lips. “What else did you dream?”

Off huffs. “Are you going to make fun of me?”

“No, Papii.” Gun rests his head on Off’s chest. “Tell me, please. I’ll tell you what I know about it.”

Running his fingers through Gun’s silky-soft hair, gently scratching at Gun’s scalp, Off does. He describes the way Gun had appeared in his dreams. The more malicious-sounding ones that Off laughs about as well as the ones where there had been something else, where Gun held him captive and kept him safe. He’s embarrassed, but alone with Gun in the night, in his own bed, in this weird mood, it feels like lifting a weight from his chest.

“Maybe you were supposed to stay away,” Gun allows when Off is finished.

Off shrugs his shoulder, nudging at Gun. “You said you’d tell me.”

“Fine.” Gun noses at Off’s jaw. “I heard stories.”

“You heard stories? Shouldn’t you know?” Off asks. At Gun’s glare, he mutters a quick apology, gestures for Gun to continue.

“I heard stories,” Gun continues. “About...fate,” he says carefully. “About love. That if we love a human, it usually ends badly for them. That we can consume them. If a human loves one of us.”

“I thought you said fairies didn’t normally eat people.”

“Fairies don’t normally love people,” Gun replies, too sharp.

There’s something in this explanation, brief as it’s been, that catches in his mind. “Wait.” Gun tilts his head curiously. Off swallows. “So you...you love me?”

Gun flushes, shoves his face into Off’s neck. He takes a moment to calm himself after squealing against Off’s t-shirt. “Papii, you’re missing the point.”

Off brings his hand to Gun’s cheek. “Am I?”

“You want me to eat you?”

Off smirks. “Thought you already did.” When Gun only frowns, Off clears his throat, he tips Gun’s chin up. “I love you.”

Shy, Gun still says, “You can’t kiss me.”

Off frowns. “I know.”

“This is a bad idea, Papii,” Gun mumbles, snuggling in, his ear over Off’s heart.

“Probably.” Off resumes running his hands over Gun’s head, his shoulders and back. He starts to drift into sleep, warm and content with Gun so close.

Gun wraps his arms around Off, cheek smushed against Off’s chest even further. Low, after a long lull, he adds, “Love is a kind of magic, too.”

The words swirl through Off’s half-conscious mind and when he dreams this time, he’s in the forest, past the veil.

He’s in the room Gun had made for him, and the rain is pouring down through the parted branches, the night sky dark but for the twinkling of stars. There are still little lights floating about the room, blazing up when Off wishes he could see just a bit better.

Gun is on the bed, eyes closed, fast asleep.

Off kneels beside him, watching the rain fall on his perfect, unmarred skin. Here, even the marks that he’d left on Gun are gone. It seems wrong to see Gun sleeping like this, the glow he has beneath the moonlight. He’s so preternaturally beautiful.

_Vulnerable_ , a voice says inside his head and Off’s eyes dart around. He doesn’t think anything can hurt Gun here, but he can’t stay his fears. He thinks about shielding Gun from the rain and the trees create cover at his whim.

Curious, Off takes another look around, circling the room even before he comes back to Gun. Gently, he touches Gun’s hand and Gun’s eyes open.

“ _Papii?_ ”

“ _Gun._ ”

“ _What…_ ” Gun’s eyes widen and he sits up. “ _How did we get here?_ ”

Off shakes his head. “ _I think this is another dream._ ”

Gun blinks, seems to adjust to the idea. “ _Oh._ ”

A thought occurs and Off sits down on the bed beside Gun. “ _Since this is a dream, can I kiss you?_ ”

“ _I think you’ll wake up,_ ” Gun replies, but he doesn’t pull away as Off leans in closer.

“ _It’s worth a shot._ ” Off cups Gun’s cheek and presses their lips together. Even in a dream, it amazes him.

Off opens his eyes and finds Gun awake, too, looking at him.

“I told you you’d wake up,” Gun says.

“It was worth it,” Off replies, smiling at him.

Gun smiles, too, but then it starts to twitch. He gazes out the window, sees through the torrential downpour and past all the buildings and straight to his forest. “I should go back.”

Off’s chest seizes and he swallows. He grabs Gun’s hands in his own. “Breakfast first?” Gun hesitates, and Off continues. “I’ll cook for you.”

Gun narrows his eyes. “Do you know how to cook?”

“Not really, but I’ll try. Just for you.” Off pouts, eyes pleading. “I… I also want to talk about the dream.”

“What about it?” Gun asks, a little more defensive now.

“How much of it was real.”

Gun scowls. “It was a dream.”

“We were both there.” Off rolls Gun onto his back, looms over him. “And when I got there, you were asleep. You looked…” He exhales slowly, eyes flickering over all of Gun’s features, noting those marks that weren’t present within the dream but stand out in stark detail in real life.

“What?”

“So beautiful,” Off finishes.

Gun rolls his eyes. “Is that surprising?”

Off shakes his head. The urge to kiss Gun overwhelms so instead he ducks his head, nuzzles the line of Gun’s jaw.

Gun holds onto him for a minute and Off can see in his peripheral vision his houseplant’s tendrils trailing across the windowsill, seeking Gun. He laughs against Gun’s skin. “You’re right though, I can’t cook. Want me to take you to Jennie’s again?”

“Do I want you to take me…?” Gun says with a sly look.

Maybe that’s Gun’s real power over him.

Eventually, they get ready. Off starts to grab an umbrella but Gun looks as interested in umbrellas as he had in condoms. Apparently Gun likes things _natural_ , for better or worse.

They head out the door and, when Gun links their hands, Off doesn’t mind the rain as much either. It’s _pouring_ , but it’s not so bad. A thought does occur, however, and he tugs at Gun, has to talk over the heavy rain. “Will it flood?”

Gun shakes his head. “Not this time. The trees needed it.” He smiles up at the sky and Off smiles at him.

They’re dripping wet when they arrive at the coffee shop, standing under the coverage above the door and shaking away some of the rain because Off tells Gun it’d be rude to track that much water into Jennie’s place.

Gun hums in acceptance of this fact, and pulls Off close. Although the rain water doesn’t magically disappear, some kind of magic must happen because it’s a bearable amount now, enough that Off doesn’t have to feel any guiltier bringing it in with him than he would’ve otherwise. He doesn’t bother asking Gun.

Tay arrives a moment later and receives an earful from Jennie about the state he’s in. “Peng?” he asks, after profusely apologizing and stepping back outside to shake out like a dog.

“Morning, Tay,” Off greets.

“Morning,” Gun says, a bit coolly, although his sweet smile could still warm every hearth in town.

“He’s still here?” Tay glares at Gun, but it’s a little softer than it’d been the day before.

“For now,” Off says, suddenly dreading what will happen when they’re done, when Gun goes back. Does he walk him there? Does Gun just disappear?

“Off, can I talk to you?” Tay asks and Jennie butts in.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of nong here,” and she’s whisking Gun over to the counter.

Off isn’t sure how to approach Tay, but he can guess what Tay has to say. Gun is dangerous, he made a bad deal, he needs to save himself… Even if he says that Gun loves him, Tay will likely roll his eyes, say that this is some other part of Gun’s plot to use him. He braces himself, sharp tongue ready to lash at Tay’s scolding.

Tay sucks in a deep breath, eyes darting to Gun, then back to Off. “Peng…” He wrings his hands. “I’m sorry.”

Off opens his mouth, then processes Tay’s words. “What?”

“I talked to Alice after you left yesterday. She made some good points. I didn’t really want to listen to them but if I’m making Alice the expert I claim in your defense against him, I feel that it’s only right I hear her out. She says he’s protecting you.” Tay sighs. “She wouldn’t say how she knew.”

Blinking, Off jerks his thumb in Gun’s direction. “You just glared and asked why he was here.”

“I didn’t say I _liked_ this whole thing, but...but maybe he’s not as evil as I had thought. Fairies aren’t strictly good or evil anyway, they play by their own sets of what’s right and wrong in the world. I’ve been doing a lot of reading.”

“I don’t know what’s going to happen either,” Off admits. “I just know that I don’t want to lose him.”

“Jum— Peng. You can’t keep him,” Tay says in a hushed voice. “He’s not—” He swallows, darts another glance at Gun. “He’s not _human_. He doesn’t belong here.”

“How do you know?” Off asks, as if he doesn’t think that just as much as Tay does, if he’s not worrying over that very idea every moment in his subconscious, that and a million other reasons why he can’t be with Gun.

Tay seems to understand Off’s thoughts, the look he gives him half-sympathetic—edging into straight _pitying_ —but he still says, “There are certain rules. You told me before that he couldn’t leave the woods. If not for your sake, for his, think: What is it doing to him to be in our world? Is it like taking a fish— no, no. An _amphibian_. And putting it on land? Taking it away from the water? He might be surviving now, but for how long?”

“He’s going back,” Off says, his frustration covering his sadness. “After this.”

Tay looks a bit surprised, but conflicted. “Good. That’s good.” He pauses. “Wait, have you finished your deal? Does he have your name?”

“No, no. One letter left.” Off looks away, tenses his jaw, doesn’t want Tay to see everything he’s feeling. “And after that, maybe I never see him again.”

“He probably won’t do anything with it,” Tay admits, like he’s trying to console Off.

“What?” Off scoffs at him. “Weren’t you certain he had bad intentions? That he was going to use my name to ruin my whole life?”

“Like I said, I’ve been reading. Sometimes fairies just do things for fun.” Tay shrugs.

“Right,” Off agrees, although he doesn’t sound particularly interested in that line of thought, doesn’t want to think that Gun is just spending time with him for fun. Gun had basically confessed last night, hadn’t he? Or...no? Gun had never said it, not explicitly. Only Off had. Here, in front of Tay, that feeling of foolishness returns.

Tay puts a hand on Off’s shoulder. “You might have to lose him, but don’t lose yourself, alright, Peng?”

“Right,” Off says again, but it isn’t right at all.

He sidles up to Gun, Tay in tow, and finds that Lee is already handing over drinks. Tay is distracted by New taking orders and doesn’t see Lee trying to get his attention.

“Papii, I got us both gingerbread,” Gun is saying.

Off raises an eyebrow. “How did you pay?”

Gun just smiles.

Off, curious, continues the line of questioning, “Jennie comp it? Free?”

Gun shakes his head, keeps smiling.

Off narrows his eyes. “I thought you couldn’t make a deal until ours was finished.”

“I didn’t make a deal,” Gun says with a pout. “It was an _exchange_. That’s different.”

Off laughs, he can’t help it. Gun has a way of making everything he does charming, at least by Off’s account. He lets his mind concentrate on this and not where they’re going next. They sit by the window and New delivers their food this time, on Jennie’s orders.

The rain drizzles down the windowpane and, if you squint, you can sort of see some of the trees at the edge of Gun’s domain.

After bothering New for a good couple of minutes, Tay stands awkwardly at the side of their table. “Can I sit here?”

Gun is watching him with an unreadable expression and Off is watching Gun. “What will I get in exchange?”

Tay freezes, looks like he wants to either argue or back away and he’s really not sure which yet. “What?”

“That’s what you think of me, isn’t it?” Gun asks, but he gestures for Tay to sit and, cautiously, Tay does.

Off wonders if Gun is actually offended by the way Tay has treated him, has talked to him, how long Gun might hold a grudge.

“I’m sorry,” Tay says, and he sounds sincere enough. He’s barely made his apology when his name is called and he runs up to the counter—to flirt or be flirted with, whichever.

The second they’re alone again, Off pulls out his phone. The lockscreen is still a blurry picture of Gun from beyond the veil. “Can I take a picture of you here? In case…” Off doesn’t finish the rest of the sentence.

Gun takes Off’s phone and Off is momentarily taken aback, but then Gun flips the screen his direction. The picture now displayed was taken in Off’s place, Gun looking at the camera as he half-presses a kiss to Off’s neck, Off distracted by one thing or another.

Off stares, a smile breaking across his face as he looks at the picture, then looks up at Gun. “Cute.”

“Do you have a way to make a copy of it?” Gun asks. “Like the other picture of Papii and Tay?” He doesn’t even sneer at Tay’s name this time.

“Oh.” Off grabs the bag Tay had left on the seat, he pulls out a little electronic device, victorious. “Tay loves this type of thing,” he explains. He presses a few buttons and fiddles with the device and his phone.

“Oi, Peng! What are you doing?” Tay asks, as he returns to his seat. He doesn’t do anything about it, just watches curiously as Off messes with his stuff. When Off’s expression turns to confusion, Tay takes over and two copies of the picture print.

“The photo paper is expensive, Jum,” Tay says, annoyed.

Off hands over one of the pictures to Gun. “Just have the company pay for it. It’s a work expense.”

“I don’t think printing out pictures of you and your _faen_ counts as work,” Tay mumbles irritably.

Off tosses him a grin and doesn’t concentrate on the picture before him but instead on the way Gun looks at the picture. “It’s yours,” Off says, thinking of how Gun had disappeared the other photo, doesn’t know if there’s some sort of permission that must be granted so that Gun can assuredly hold on.

Gun’s smile is softer than usual and, with a glance towards Tay in his periphery, Off thinks that Tay can see that, too. Tay’s hackles have always seemed raised around Gun and now it looks as if they have started to lower, that perhaps he sees some hint of what Off does.

“Thank you, Papii.”

“You’re the one who took the picture,” Off says.

Tay swallows and doesn’t say anything at all, which is very unlike Tay.

In fact, no one says much as they eat, and drink their coffees, and Off tries to memorize what Gun looks like in this moment, sneaking a photo of his own.

“Papii, I have to go back,” Gun tells him when they’ve been sitting for another ten minutes, all sustenance gone. All excuses gone.

“You’re connected to these woods, right?” Tay asks. “It’s like...like you’re rooted there. But then you came here, which seems impossible from my reading, and—”

“Shut it, Ai’Tay.” Off doesn’t mean it to sound as angry as it does, as cold as it does, but he hates this moment. And he hates Tay making the situation sound so black and white, reminding him of how he’d sort of liked things before.

He had _liked_ that he and Gun had their own little separate world where no one knew, that Off himself was the one who could travel between them, choose which world he existed in and leave the other behind. Now he wants desperately to keep Gun here _and_ go there, to have it all.

Maybe he’s not just delusional, but selfish.

“I’ll walk with you,” Off says.

“I’ll come, too,” Tay suggests.

For some reason, Gun allows him.

Off holds onto Gun’s hand tightly the whole walk, completely uncaring of the rain even as Tay repeatedly offers to share his umbrella. Tay pesters Gun with a number of questions, most of which Gun only answers in the vaguest of terms, if at all.

When they reach the edge of the woods, Gun stops and looks up at Off, squeezes Off’s hand in his own. “We have to see each other again,” Gun reminds him. “You still owe me.”

There’s something very melancholy in their parting, but Off still manages a smirk and a wink. “Can’t wait to kiss me again, huh?”

Tay is grimacing as he watches them but Off pays him no mind.

Off pulls Gun in for a hug and Gun kisses him on the neck, where his face so naturally tucks when they embrace. “I guess you have things to do,” Off laments.

Gun nods against his shoulder.

The embrace lasts a long time and no time at all, but they force themselves to separate, and Gun’s fingers slowly loosen their grip, slip away.

Off wants to go with him, but having Tay there makes him a little stronger in his resolve to let Gun do what he needs to.

Off can _feel_ it when Gun is back in the woods and it’s as if some part of him ekes out, and he deflates just a little bit. The rain creates a wall, a divide, that keeps them apart. This is probably just his imagination.

And then Tay puts a hand on his shoulder. “Seeing you in love is weird.”

Off glares at Tay, but he’s a bit reassured, too. All things considered, at least he and Tay are still the same and now that Tay’s not actively fighting Gun or the very _idea_ of Gun, Off appreciates that his best friend is here for him, in his own way. “Ai’Peng,” he scolds, lighter than he might’ve.

Tay clears his throat. “Do you want to go back to my place?”

“You don’t have to stalk New today?”

Tay waves a hand. “I already talked to him.” He props the umbrella over the two of them and they walk back to Tay’s, Tay doing most of the talking.

Tay has a pile of books on his living room table and Off raises an eyebrow. “What year is it?”

“Hey, a lot of this information can’t be found online!” Tay argues.

Off narrows his eyes. “You went to the library with New, didn’t you?”

“...Joss, actually,” Tay mumbles and Off grins. But then Tay is picking up a book. “This one I borrowed from Alice. It has a lot about names.”

Off knows that Tay is telling him to read it, to find out whatever he can to protect himself. For some reason, he has no desire to look into it. When it comes to the deal, to giving away his name, Off wants to know what Gun is willing to tell him. When it comes to other stuff, well… Off is a little curious. He grabs a different book from the stack. He’s about to flop down onto Tay’s couch when Tay dives to stop him.

“You wanna shower first, Peng? Dry off?” Tay suggests, but it’s more like a command to keep Off from ruining his furniture.

Off complies, but he flexes his hand, knows that he’ll be washing away Gun’s touch as ridiculous as that may be. When he makes it into Tay’s bathroom he remembers that Gun’s “touch” isn’t going to wash away easily. He smirks at his reflection, at all the marks Gun had left behind, as he waits for the water to heat up.

And then Tay opens the door. “Oi, Jumpol! You look like you’ve been mauled.”

Off rolls his eyes and Tay gets more animated, flipping Off around, forcing him to look over his shoulder at the little scratches and fingerprint bruises on his back.

Eyes wide, Off takes in the sight...and laughs.

“Jealous you’re not getting any, Ai’Peng?”

“Jealous that I’m not being devoured alive by a supernatural being?” Tay huffs, but Off sees the little bit of truth there, too. Tay hasn’t gotten laid in _ages_ , partially thanks to his long standing crush on New.

Off raises his eyebrows at Tay.

“I’m serious!” Tay scolds. “Some creatures feed on sex. Are you sure he’s just a fairy? Maybe he’s some kind of— of incubus demon or something.”

Off holds his tongue. Tay doesn’t need to know about Gun’s complaints of soreness, the way he had actually seemed so _tired_. It certainly didn’t seem like he’d gotten energy from Off, he’d just...gotten Off and gotten off. And Off can’t help the stupid grin the phrasing brings to his face.

“ _Jumpol_.”

Off shakes his head, brings himself back to the moment. “Are you going to let me shower or not?” He pauses. “Or you trying to shower with me?” He winks and Tay balks at him, blushing.

Tay grabs his hairbrush—apparently his initial mission—and leaves the bathroom, grumbling under his breath.

Off tries not to think about showering with Gun the day before, twice. He goes through the motions now and wonders for how long he’ll be able to wait, _should_ wait, before he searches for Gun again.

Tay forces them to start working again even though they’re technically still on break. He suggests an article on the woods and Off argues against it because: 1. Why would anyone care about the forest where they live?; 2. It’s not their business to tell of the goings on in the woods, beyond the veil.

The legends and stories they grew up with, the warnings to stay out, those are enough.

They do end up considering a story about Jennie and the coffee shop even if it would still be a little local fluff piece. They’re pretty sure Jennie would be flattered to have her picture and her business featured.

They go to Gunsmile’s again for dinner and Off lets Gunsmile and the others—Ssing, Toptap, Mike—all tease the hell out of him for the marks on his neck. It’s even better when Tay gets in on it and all the attention is turned to teasing Tay about his _lack_ of love life.

“At least Jumpol here is getting laid,” Gunsmile says with a knowing look in Tay’s direction.

Tay waves his arms and shushes Gunsmile. “Don’t say that.”

“Say what? That you’re not getting laid? Are there _new_ ”—and everyone hears the double meaning—“developments with which your loving friends should be made aware?” Gunsmile leans in towards Tay with a lascivious look on his face.

Tay scowls. “No. But I meant the other thing anyway. The name.”

Toptap joins in. “Oh? Why not?”

“Let’s just say _Khun Off_ here made a deal.”

Off rolls his eyes. “Ai’Tay, as if you haven’t been shouting my name twenty times a day.”

With a glare, Tay simply huffs, and the others share a look.

“I guess that’s all the explanation we’re getting,” Gunsmile says to Toptap, acting as if he’s being secretive in his rebuke by cupping his hand over his mouth.

Off just rolls his eyes and smiles, unwilling to address the dig. It’s a secret that he intends to keep secret for now, and maybe forever if things don’t…

“You want a drink, Jum?” Gunsmile asks, sensing the shift in Off’s mood.

Off doesn’t usually drink but, after a slight hesitation, he nods. He downs the first shot Gunsmile hands him, hoping to chase away his anxieties, then sips slowly on the drink Mike makes him.

No one pressures him for the rest of the evening and, when all is said and done, Off and Tay stumble back to Off’s place, Off tipsy and Tay fairly drunk. The weather has eased up for the time being, although Off helps Tay dodge puddles as they go, certain at points that Tay would be facedown on the ground and soaking wet if he didn’t have Off. Off lets Tay shower and his thoughts drift to Gun, his single focus these days. He plays with the bracelet, examining all the intricacies of the flowers, their tiny little petals. Off wonders how exactly Gun had done it. Could he transmute plant matter to silver? But it was more than simple silver. It seemed to turn to ice when another presence would appear nearby.

It’s solid now, for all its delicate details.

“Peng,” Tay announces, as he flops down on the couch next to Off. “Don’t take things too personally, alright? Don’t...get caught up in the whole fairy thing.” He slaps a hand on Off’s knee and leans his head on Off’s shoulder. “I care about you, you know?”

Off squints at him. “You’re so drunk.”

“Jum.” Tay pauses, collects his thoughts. “You drive me crazy, but you’re my best friend. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“I know,” Off says, even if the words feel sticky in his throat.

“That— Your—” Tay takes back the words, tries again. “You love him, don’t you?”

Off freezes, doesn’t answer, but he doesn’t need to.

“You know it won’t end well,” Tay mumbles. “You have to let go. Finish your deal and forget.”

It’s like a knife to the heart. Off swallows. “Come on, Ai’Peng. Let’s get you to bed.”

Off falls into an uneasy sleep and for the first time since they met, without Gun beside him, he doesn’t dream. It leaves him with an uneasiness, leaves him tossing and turning. Every warning echoing through him, and for a time, in the wee hours of the morning, he thinks this has all been a dream. Maybe he’s in some sort of coma. But if Gun isn’t real, why would he ever want to wake up?

Off holds onto his bracelet, tries to ground himself. It’s cold now, despite how the metal should’ve warmed to his skin. He sits up and grabs his phone and, with shaking hands, finds the picture that Gun had taken of them. The physical copy is in his wallet.

It looks so…

So…

Surreal.

It looks like the kind of photo one might take on after they move in with their _faen_ , domestic and sickening to anyone but the two of them.

And it’s a picture that Gun had taken. For Off to… To remember him by? Is that why he’d done it?

Gun had told Off, if not word for word, that he loved him, but it had been a warning, too. He had said that when fairies love humans, they can consume them, Alice had mentioned the idea of people being left only shells. What actually happens to you if your fae lover devours you? Is it a worse fate than what heartbreak will do should you part?

Can you let go?

Off’s thoughts have taken a dark path and suddenly he hisses in pain, like he’s been burned. The bracelet is searing cold and Off looks around the room. The only living thing he can see is Tay, still passed out beside him.

He shakes Tay’s shoulder. Fear grips him, makes him afraid to speak, but he can’t leave Tay unconscious when he’s so certain that something is amiss.

Grumbling, Tay starts to rouse, and Off shoves a hand over Tay’s mouth.

There’s a creak, a whisper that sounds more like wind than a voice.

Even in the dark, Off can see the shine of Tay’s eyes, how they go impossibly wide, frightened. Slowly, he removes his hand.

Off tries to forget all the torturous thoughts that had been gnawing on his mind. He focuses on the bracelet, puts on a tough face in hopes of steeling himself inside as well as outside.

Last time alone, he had gotten through this, not to mention when he’d been with Gun. If whatever this is, is anything like Gun, perhaps it, too, is weaker here.

He’d thought of Gun when he’d been out in the woods, when he’d felt surrounded. The feeling of a presence isn’t as strong now, but the thought that it had followed him, had come _into_ his home, makes it far more of a threat.

He thinks of Gun now. Memories of Gun here. There. Gun’s smile.

Off wants, with every fiber of his being, to protect Gun.

And, right now, that means protecting himself.

The presence doesn’t back away, the whispers grow loud. The air leaves the room and a suffocating, stagnating heat settles in.

Off can’t look at Tay, can’t see the utter fear that must adorn his face. He has to shut everything else out except the certainty that he can’t let Gun down.

It’s getting harder and harder to breathe and Off can _feel_ Tay panicking. A figure of rather indeterminate shape steps up, reaching towards Off. It doesn’t speak, but a sense of amusement wars with that of frustration. It wants to get him. Needs to.

A desperation leeches into his skin, and he doesn’t know if the sentiment belongs to him or the presence, but Off hopes his determination can outlast theirs. The icy chill of the bracelet gives him some comfort, the sensation sharpening as the figure very nearly touches his face.

The figure’s hand—if it can be called as such—begins to dissolve, evaporate, before it can make contact and Off glances down to see the flowers Gun had woven in wilting, _melting_ , a wet trail that drips down the back of his hand, slides to his fingertips.

He can’t let the whole thing disappear. He can’t let the gift Gun had given him waste away here.

Off hardens his heart. “Get out,” he says with all the authority he can muster.

A crash of thunder and Off catches the strike of lightning out the window.

Off inhales deeply, finally. Cool, clean air.

The entity is gone.

He hears Tay’s heavy breaths, the hiccuping nature, and turns his attention to his friend. Tay is pushing himself up to a seated position in the bed, swiping at his eyes. Tay points to what is now empty space. “This, Jumpol. This is why you need to let go.” He clutches his chest and, for once, Off doesn’t think he’s being overdramatic. “We could’ve died.”

Off wants to deny it, but he can’t. He carefully lifts his wrist to examine the bracelet now that they’re momentarily safe. A bit worse for wear but all five flowers remain, looking rather sad. Off dares to touch it, to ensure that it’s not going to melt to nothingness, wishing the former glory of the flowers might be restored. In wonder, he sees them grow fuller, their silvered petals arching up towards his touch.

A revelation sits at the precipice, not quite ready to plunge off the edge and into his active consciousness.

Off tucks his hand away and concentrates on Tay. “Are you okay?”

“No,” Tay says. Then, petulantly, “Well, technically, I am physically unharmed. But my psyche, Peng! That sort of thing requires years of therapy to recover from.”

“So you’re fine?” Off asks again. “Good.” The sky is dark, it’s pouring rain again. Off checks the time anyway. “It’s nearly six. Jennie’s will be open soon.”

Tay nods, understanding. They go about getting ready, a tense silence lies heavily over them.

“Don’t forget your umbrella,” Off tells Tay.

“It wasn’t supposed to rain today.”

Off looks at Tay like he’s stupid. “Peng, it’s raining now.”

Tay tilts his head. “I can’t hear it.” He laughs. “Is my hearing getting worse or is yours getting better?”

Frowning, Off opens the door, just to check. He was right. “It was raining so much yesterday,” he murmurs. “No way it would’ve eased up already.”

Tay shrugs, allowing for this response.

On their walk, Tay holds the umbrella over the two of them, Off not having bothered to grab his own. “Oi, Jum, stop wandering like that. I can’t keep you covered.”

Off realizes, with some surprise, that he’s several steps away, pauses to let Tay catch up to him. He hadn’t felt any discomfort but he’s soaked, now that he looks down at himself, shakes his head and grins as Tay whines at the water flinging from his hair.

Jennie’s makeup is flawless, and yet the look on her face says she’s yet to fully awaken. She perks up at the sight of Off. “Pa-pii,” she sing-songs, then, “Ow, where’s your little _faen_?”

“Is he the only one you love now?” Off returns, despite the stutter in his heart at the mention.

Jennie lets out a long sigh. “No…” Her response isn’t entirely convincing.

Lee emerges from the back, scrubbing at his face, looking even less conscious than Jennie. “Morning,” he calls, attempting politeness. His smile is particularly warm when his eyes fall on Tay.

Off nudges Tay’s shoulder, but Tay doesn’t look at Lee, just at Off, and Off gives up for the moment.

“Just you two though?” Jennie presses again, peeking over them as if Gun might appear.

“Just us,” Off emphasizes.

Jennie looks put-upon in her disappointment, gestures for Lee to take their order.

Back to his black coffee.

Off and Tay take a seat in their usual spot and it seems incredible to think that Gun had been with them the morning before, had met Arm, Alice, Joss, Lee, New, and, of course, Jennie.

He had fit in so well in this world. Too well, even.

Off stares out the window.

“Are you a compass?” Tay asks after who knows how long. “Pointing true north.”

Off rolls his eyes at Tay and pulls his focus to his coffee.

“You’re pathetic,” Tay murmurs.

“What?”

Tay shakes his head.

Off had heard him, of course, but it’s the second time in the span of an hour that Off has wanted to argue only to find himself with no leg to stand on.

Tay starts talking about work, talking about New, but he talks about Joss, too, and their trip to the library, how Joss could reach all the books on the top shelf. He raves Joss’s praise, in awe, and this amuses Off, at least.

“And Lee?” Off asks, tilting his head in the current barista’s direction.

Frowning, Tay takes a sip of his drink. “What does he have to do with anything?”

_He gave you his number_ , is on the tip of Off’s tongue, but it’s possible Tay has already forgotten. Tay is like that sometimes. Instead, Off just shrugs. “He seems nice.”

“Very nice,” Tay agrees.

And they leave it at that. Off can only play matchmaker so much. Arm had put his stamp of approval on New, but Off thinks the game is far from over in the realm of Tay’s love life.

“I have an appointment today,” Tay says, when they go to leave. “Will you be okay? I don’t think you should be alone.”

Off nods. “If I get too lonely, I’ll call someone. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” He sounds convincing, but Tay is suspicious. Off must sense this, continuing, “I’ll text you when I get home. I promise.”

“You mean your home where we were nearly _murdered_ in your bed just a couple of hours ago?” Tay asks.

The sky has lightened from pitch black to a dark, stormy grey.

“Want the umbrella?”

Off shakes his head. “But you’re right about being alone, I guess,” he adds the last part, not wanting to give Tay too much credit. “I’ll grab my stuff and call around.”

Tay breathes a very obvious sigh of relief. “Text me who you’re with, and tell them to text me!”

“You’re not going to lose me, Ai’Tay,” Off says, but something about it rings uncertain, almost false, despite how he’d said that he would be fine.

Off calls Krist and Singto if only because they’re more removed from the problem. He has to pick up his car to drive over to their place and Krist grills him about his hickeys, about his lockscreen when he catches a glimpse despite Off’s efforts to keep it hidden—it’s the picture Gun had taken, of course.

“P’Off,” Krist crows. “You’ve gone soft in your old age.”

Singto scolds, “Oi, Kit. Don’t call P’Off old, that’s rude.”

“P’Sing,” Krist returns, “he has a picture of his _faen_ kissing his neck as his lockscreen. Would he have done that a couple of years ago? A year ago?”

Singto tilts his head appraisingly. “He’s right, phi. For you, that’s… For one thing, I thought you were straight.”

Off really doesn’t want to discuss that part, isn’t ready. He glares at Krist instead. “He’s not my _faen_.”

“Phi...he’s kissing your neck. Your very”—he clears his throat meaningfully instead of providing an adjective—“neck. _And_ he’s your lockscreen. Is he a friend? Is that what friends do? Should I just—” He leans towards Singto in jest.

“ _Faen_ or not,” Singto follows, “he’s not just a friend.”

Off huffs. “Fine. He’s sort of my _faen_.” If everyone else has gotten away with saying it, Krist and Singto might as well, too.

“Ooh, P’Off—”

Off whacks Krist on the shoulder before he can say whatever he was about to, and Singto merely laughs. Then, Off remembers that Tay is going to start freaking out. “Text Ai’Tay.”

“What? Why?” Krist asks, but Singto pulls out his phone.

Off juts his chin towards Singto, who is prepared. “Just let him know I’m with you guys and that I’m okay.”

Singto glances up at that, then over at Krist and back.

Off knows exactly how his words had sounded and although the truth of the matter is that he _is_ in some danger, Krist and Singto don’t need to know that. “Tay is just worried. You know how Ai’Tay can be when he gets an idea in his head.” He waves his hand dismissively, and Krist and Singto seem to shrug it off.

Off is with Krist and Singto until the mid-afternoon. He even eats their cooking, if with a bit of uncertainty.

“Krist, the plants are looking sad,” Singto says with a frown as they stand to send Off back out into the world.

Curious, Off touches the twisting tendril of a fern that appears half-dead, then heads out the door, the call of, “P’Sing, that one looks fine—” following him out.

The revelation has fallen off the edge, sits on the surface of the water, slowly sinking in.

It’s still raining.

He drives to the library of all places and finds Alice there. She has a stack of books about fairy lore.

“There are still books left?” Off says, taking a seat beside her. “I’d have thought Ai’Tay had taken them all.”

Alice smiles. “I’m just trying to find out anything I can.” She hesitates, makes sure to speak low given their setting and Off’s situation. “Have there been any developments?”

Off doesn’t know where to start, but he ends up telling her a little of everything, hoping she understands. He even tells her about the entity that had come into his place, which has her worried, but it’s not her first question.

“He loves you?”

He hadn’t been explicit, even in his explanation, even less explicit than Gun had been in admitting it, but he’d made mention. “I… Yeah. I guess.”

Alice just nods, her eyebrows furrowing.

“Why?” Off wants to know. He’s certain Alice has more on her mind than she lets on.

“I’m not sure yet,” she says. “He seemed sweet though. Gun.”

“Don’t think he’s going to eat me?” Off jokes.

Alice hums. “I can’t answer anything definitely. Not yet.”

This does little to comfort Off, so he decides to stop asking her questions. He grabs one of her books and starts flipping through it.

He spies Joss—hard _not_ to notice someone like Joss—and makes accidental eye contact. Joss immediately smiles and walks over.

Joss arrives at the table and frowns consideringly at the books splayed before them. “More fairies?” He huffs a laugh. “What’s with all of you and fairies?”

Off shares a look with Alice, wondering if Joss hadn’t realized. He’d certainly been working when he and Tay had discussed his predicament, as well as when Gun had been there. Joss has met Gun.

“Er.” Off taps the book on the desk idly. “Researching an article.”

“Oh, right,” Joss says. “Tay was telling me that you two work together. He takes photos and you write?”

Off nods. “Right.”

Joss shifts from foot to foot, working up another question. “Is... P’Tay seeing anyone?”

Alice hides her smirk behind a book. Their table is earning glares from other patrons of the library.

Off tries to keep his own mischievousness hidden. “Oh? Tay? I don’t think he’s got anyone,” Off says, as if he doesn’t know Tay is single and thirsty with his stupid crush on New. “Why?”

Joss blushes and, really, Joss is a good-looking guy. He seems nice, too. Tay had at least acknowledged that, if not that a tall, muscular hunk of a man was very actively hitting on him. Off wonders if Tay is truly ignorant or just pretending to be, although he’s inclined to think the former. “Just curious. I was thinking maybe I could ask him out.” His eyes dart to Off’s. “Do you think he’d say yes?”

Off bites his tongue, wants to say that Tay should at least go out with him if he’s got any sense, but what he says is, “I really don’t know. But I don’t think it would hurt to ask.”

Joss grins. “Thanks, phi.”

Off isn’t sure when Joss got so familiar with him, but given that _P’Tay_ had hung out with him, maybe things had progressed more than he thought, if not yet in a romantic sense. “No problem.”

Joss leaves with a swagger to his step, anticipatory. Excited.

Alice watches him go, then turns her focus to Off. “Not going to tell him Tay is hopelessly in love with someone else?”

“I wouldn’t say it’s _hopeless_ ,” Off says.

Alice sets down her book. “Oh? Are you a romantic now?”

Off starts to shake his head, but then hesitates. “Love…” Something tickles at his subconscious mind. “Love is a kind of magic.”

Alice’s eyes go wide. “What was that?”

“Nevermind.”

Off and Alice end up picking up dinner and bringing it over to Arm’s, Alice insisting, mentioning— _finally_ —the dangers Off had faced that morning.

Arm welcomes them both and they discuss some of their findings. Off providing what he knows from Gun. Alice has a curiosity about the whole thing that isn’t malicious, simply a desire for knowledge, for understanding.

All Off really knows is that Gun has been around for what seems a long time. That Gun is the prince of his domain. He doesn’t say that Gun is lonely, not in those words, but he says Gun has never specifically mentioned another fairy by name, has only said he’s “heard stories.” From who, Off has no idea. There are things in the woods, beyond the veil. There’s some sort of mystical world tied to Gun’s energy.

Alice takes notes in a journal she pulls from her bag, alongside a couple of books. “Some of this lines up.”

Off reaches out before he thinks it through. “Can I?” he asks, almost touching the spine of a book already.

“Of course,” Alice tells him, watching him even as she jots down what he’s said.

“This book is so old,” Off mutters. “Did you get it from the library?”

Alice shakes her head. “It was in my house, growing up. I think a local wrote it.”

Off flips through the pages and stops, unsure why until he sees the sketch. _The specter of the woods, 1893_ , it says, beneath a drawing that, despite its quality, has Off unable to breathe, and yet, he emits a sound, small and indescribable.

In those few shaky lines, he can see Gun.

“Can I keep this?” Off asks, then realizes how inappropriate the request is, to ask for a book that may have been in Alice’s family for generations. “For now?”

Alice balks for a second, but she doesn’t look upset. “Can I see?” she asks, gesturing to the page.

Off hesitates, turns the book in her direction.

Alice stares a moment. “Is that him?”

Off frowns, nods. “Can’t you see it?”

She shakes her head. “To me, it could be anyone.” She pushes it back towards him. “You see him though. Keep it.”

Off isn’t quite sure what she means, but he accepts the book. This one, he doesn’t just skim, poring over each page. It mostly just tells him the history of the area, how people had tried, for a time, to claim for space, but the forest had been nigh-impenetrable, that any who came close would give up on the endeavor were their intentions set on destruction. People could _wander_ into the woods, yes, but whether or not they emerged was a different story. A few of those people had seen this “specter.”

Sometimes he had helped them back, sometimes he had gotten them lost. Some say he followed them like a fevered wind—and it’s those, Off knows with certainty, that do not refer to Gun. There’s a chill passing through the veil, in Gun’s presence, not heat, even if Gun makes him feel heated.

Arm helps with the research, too. He, like Alice, seems more open to the idea of Gun than Tay had been.

At one point, Alice looks up, concentrating for a moment, going so far as to cock her head as she listens. “Has the rain let up?”

Off shakes his head. 

They give up after a while longer and end up watching TV and playing games and Arm even suggests that Off can stay, can sleep on the couch, but Off refuses.

“I should go.”

Arm exchanges a look with Alice. “Are you sure? Is it safe?”

Off shrugs, pastes a smile on his face. “Only one way to find out.”

When Off gets home, he staggers up the steps, exhausted although he’d done little to make him that way. Perhaps it was the lack of G— of _sleep_. The disturbance that had come so early that morning. Off actually takes the time to shower, the cold of the rain, of the day, beginning to sink to his bones.

It’s not long after sleep finds him that dreams follow. These dreams, however, are not ones that bring him fear followed by comfort.

These dreams are all terror. Shredded, without completion, scattered.

Gun alone, sharp teeth bared, daring whatever comes at him.

A tear in the veil.

Burning.

Gun whispering words that Off can’t understand.

Gun—

_Gun._

Off wants to run to him but he can’t. He can’t do anything.

Gun’s gaze, sharp as his teeth.

A sizzle, a ripple through the earth.

Flowers wilting.

Flowers— Flowers wilting?

Off wakes up with a start, bracelet cold on his wrist, but there is nothing here to harm him.

“Gun.”

He barely tosses together clothes, keys, before he’s sprinting out the door.

Off runs into the forest, lets the trail guide him, slips through the veil like mist.

Gun doesn’t appear before him, doesn’t tease or worry or try to surprise him. “Gun?” he calls.

No response.

Off runs in further, deeper, and it takes him a second to solidify the wish, the desire. _Help me find Gun_.

After that, it isn’t long until he comes upon a body, fallen against a tree as if the tree might brace it against any harm, might gather it in and keep it safe.

“Gun,” Off says, but it comes out as a strained whisper. He drops to the ground and gathers Gun to him, is _given_ Gun by the forces of the forest. “Thanks,” he murmurs thoughtlessly.

Gun is out, doesn’t wake.

Off wishes for that room Gun had made for him, the comfort of it, the amenities, and the very tree on which Gun had been leaned reaches its branches towards another, creates an archway through which the entrance shimmers, a veil within the veil.

Off hoists Gun into his arms and isn’t Gun too light?

Off deposits Gun on the bed and lets his hand find Gun’s as he stands beside him. He thinks of the dream they had shared, that had been set in this very place. He wonders if he’s still dreaming now.

“Gun,” he says, but his heart is beating out of his chest. “Bii.” His free hand cups the side of Gun’s face. “Gun, please.” He’s shaking. How long has he been shaking?

Gun is still, but Off can sense— can see the ever-so-slight rise and fall of Gun’s chest, evidence that Gun has not left him.

Their— Their deal incomplete.

“Gun,” Off whispers again, and now he crawls onto the bed beside his fae _faen_. He pulls Gun’s back up against his chest. “Baby, please be okay,” he murmurs into Gun’s hair. “Please.”

Off doesn’t cry easily, but the stress is ratcheting up, threatening to seize him. He holds Gun close, and Gun is so cold, Off lends him all the warmth that he can. The trees thread together close above their heads, keep out the rain because Off wants it that way, can’t stand to see the droplets hitting Gun’s beautiful face and see no response.

“How are we supposed to complete our deal, Ai’Gun?” Off scolds, like that will help.

He thinks, maybe, that Gun shifts in his sleep, as if this is natural sleep and not some terrifying consequence of outside forces. As if his deal with Off hadn’t left him weakened, far more defenseless than he ought to be.

“Do I leave you here?” Off asks. “Do I take you away, make you weaker, to make myself feel better?”

No sounds come from Gun’s motionless body and Off presses a kiss into Gun’s hair, finds both of Gun’s hands and folds them into his own. Gun’s hands, his body, are warmer than they’d been, but this is of no comfort. Gun had always run a bit on the cool side and his raised temperature feels like fever, like illness, like whatever that thing had been, the thing that had followed Off before, had come into his home, had now left its mark on Gun. Like a layer of corruption lingers.

“I really don’t know what to do,” Off admits softly. “Can you tell me what to do?” His voice small, he says, “Please.”

Off must spend hours there without any signs of hope other than the gentle rise and fall of Gun’s chest, the steadiness of his heart, his breath.

Maybe it only feels like hours.

It’s hard to tell.

He starts hoping that, somehow, he can lend his strength to Gun. Whatever he’d been doing before—when he’d faced the presence, when he’d revived the plants, sensed the rain, when nature had responded as if his whims had meaning. He clutches Gun’s hands in his own with a little more force, holds them to Gun’s chest, wills it so.

It takes a while but, finally, he hears the intake of breath, feels the body in his arms start to shake. Off doesn’t let him go, props Gun up against his shoulder, to the side, so that he can get a look at Gun’s face. Movement beneath the eyelids.

Off holds his breath.

Gun’s eyes do not open slowly but shoot open—wide, panicked. It takes him a second to realize where he is, to look at Off and see him.

“P-Papii?” Gun asks quietly, as if he can’t believe it.

“Gun! I’m here.” Tears slip down Off’s cheeks now, stress giving way to grand relief. “Gun.” He presses his forehead against Gun’s and lets go of one of Gun’s hands, cupping Gun’s cheek, trailing his fingers into Gun’s silky hair, notices once more how soft Gun’s skin is, his hair, so seemingly untouched except for the marks he’d left, that had been left because _he_ made Gun weak.

“I’m okay, Papii,” Gun murmurs against Off’s neck, nuzzles into him. “How did you know to look for me?”

“Dreams,” Off explains. He wants badly to kiss Gun, so _very_ badly. He sucks in a breath and kisses Gun’s cheek, his forehead. “What happened, bii?”

Gun shakes his head, looks away. “Something that shouldn’t have.”

“I’ve seen it,” Off confesses. “Whatever it is. That thing that got you. It almost got me, too.”

Gun’s eyes widen and he pushes himself up, gives enough space between them that he can look at Off properly. “But you’re alright?” His eyes dart to Off’s wrist. He grabs Off’s hand and examines the bracelet. A wrinkle forms between his brows and his gaze flickers between the bracelet and Off. “You… What happened to it?”

Off frowns. “It looks the same, doesn’t it?” It had been damaged, true, but Off can see no visible difference in how it looks now and how it had looked before. The five flowers glimmer in the low light of their room.

Gun’s fingertips brush lightly over the petals, over the woven silver. “Did you fix it?”

Shrugging, Off swallows down his anxiety. “Is that bad?”

“But…” Gun takes Off’s hand, turns it and presses a kiss to Off’s palm, presses the hand against his own cheek again.

“You like that?” Off asks, smiling a little now, thumb stroking over the apple of Gun’s cheek.

“Makes me feel—” Gun stops and Off can swear there’s a blush to Gun’s cheeks, certain when Gun ducks his head, shy.

“‘Makes you feel’? What?” Off presses, a tease to his tone.

Gun tries to shake his head, but then Off starts to move the hand from his cheek and Gun clutches it there, stopping him. Gun exhales slowly, brings his eyes up to meet Off’s. Off can see that power, that determination, that familiar otherness. “It makes me feel like I’m yours. Like I belong to someone. Like I... _belong_.”

The last word has Off’s heart shattering into a million shards, coming up like glass in his throat. Gun had seemed so confident, had explained that he was prince of his domain. How could he… “You do,” Off whispers, forcing his voice through the shredded remains of his throat, painful but necessary.

They hold each other then, in silence. The pattering of the rain finally audible over the sound of their hearts beating.

“I love you, Gun,” Off says, holding Gun’s head to his chest. “I don’t care if it’s stupid or— Whatever.”

Gun takes a long moment before he looks up at Off. “Gun loves Papii.”

It’s the first time Gun has _actually_ said it and Off’s heart thumps painfully in shock at hearing the words so clearly. “You love me?” he mutters, childlike in his awe.

Gun squints at him, his hands coming to Off’s neck. “Papii, you already knew.”

Off shakes his head, tears threatening to spill once more. “’S different.”

Gun draws him close and their lips are a hair’s breadth apart, so close that Off can _almost_ feel Gun’s lips against his own.

Off sighs against Gun’s lips, pulls back just a bit. “If I say it, our deal will be over, right?”

Gun blinks at him, purses his lips. He doesn’t seem keen on it either.

A letter. A kiss.

A connection between them severed.

“Good,” Off murmurs. “That’d be good.”

Gun’s eyes go round, hurt, before he hardens his expression. A sharp, unnatural calm comes over him. “I guess.”

Off pauses, gathers his thoughts. “Not because I want to leave you. But I don’t want to lose you.”

“Papii, you’re not making any sense,” Gun tells him, breaking apart, giving them space to talk.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Gun. This”—he gestures between them—“bond we have through our deal. It puts you at risk.” Gun opens his mouth to protest, but Off raises an eyebrow. “You told me yourself, Ai’Gun. There’s no use denying it.” His brows furrow. “And I thought…” _I thought you couldn’t lie. You never lie to me_.

“Mh,” Gun agrees. “But…”

“‘But’?” Gun had said “but” earlier, about the bracelet. They should figure that out, too, right? Should they? Will… Will any of it matter after the deal is done? He can at least keep it as a memento, right?

“Papii, stop thinking so much.”

“I thought that wasn’t one of your powers,” Off accuses, although he’s often felt that Gun knew exactly what he was thinking anyway. It’s just that...if Gun knew his thoughts, Gun would surely know his name.

Gun rubs his thumb over the crease in Off’s brow. “It’s not. I just… Sometimes, with you, I have a sense of things.”

Off _hmphs_. “Fine. I’ll stop.” He lets out a long sigh, finds himself shaking, uncertain. “We have to finish things.” Once more, Gun tries to interrupt. “No, Gun. The magic. I can’t let you get hurt because of me. Not again.”

Gun hesitates, nods, must note Off’s determination and allow him to go on.

Off opens his mouth to speak.

Suddenly, Gun covers Off’s lips with his fingers.

“Atthaphan,” he says.

Off blinks, lips still covered. He doesn’t dare speak when Gun is so obviously telling him something important.

“My name,” Gun explains.

Off’s eyes widen, some memory trying to surface about fairies and names. He stutters for a second. “L. Jumpol. Off Jumpol. Adulkittiporn,” he adds at the end, rather lamely.

“Jumpol,” Gun repeats.

“Atthaphan.”

There’s a surge and a snap, like something clicking into place, like a current locking onto a source, a sizzle in the already electrified air as thunder claps and lightning strikes down.

Off can’t see it, but he knows it all the same. The storm is upon them and he doesn’t fear it in the least—can’t, because something...something is different. “Gun Atthaphan,” he whispers.

“Off Jumpol.”

Just saying each other’s names feels like the thrill of diving into a frigid lake but finding the water kinder than you’d expected.

Gun bites his lip, staring at Off like _Off_ has the answers, which isn’t at all the way it ought to be considering his position.

Laughing, Off grasps Gun’s hand. “I don’t remember that being part of our deal.”

Instead of shy, Gun looks stubborn, starts to protest but is stopped in his tracks.

“Thank you,” Off says clearly. “ _Atthaphan_.”

“I gave you my name,” Gun says, slightly panicked, as if just realizing what he’s done.

It’s such a quick turn of emotions, expressions, that it has Off chuckling once more. “You did. And I gave you mine. Now...I think you owe me a kiss.”

Gun lifts his chin in invitation and Off bends down to take it, no hesitation this time as he presses their lips together, lets the kiss deepen, clutches Gun to him.

It doesn’t last terribly long this time, more a reassurance, a _relief_.

They’re still clutching each other in their bed, the one made by magic, the world at their will.

“Did it work?” Off asks. “Is the deal done?”

Gun is silent for a long moment, as if trying to solve one of life’s greatest mysteries. Eventually, he says, “The deal is complete.”

“Why do you look like that?” Off pokes Gun’s protruding lower lip. “Hm?”

“Like what?” Gun asks, wide innocent eyes keeping him from having to utter an actual lie.

Off hums. He pokes Gun’s lip again, fingers brushing up to Gun’s cheek, thumb taking their place. A stillness in the air, as if the world is waiting to turn. “Gun, can I—”

Off doesn’t get the chance to finish asking because Gun is already kissing him, pushing him onto his back, tongue delving into his mouth, sharp teeth biting at his lips, and, for a second, it really seems like Gun might eat him in the not-so-fun way.

Gun is straddling Off’s hips and Off pants as he breaks the kiss. “That easy, huh?”

“‘Easy,’” Gun repeats with a look of disdain, but he can barely hold back his enthusiasm. He kisses Off again. Again, again.

“You mean I could’ve gotten these for free?” Off whines, still teasing even as their hips fall into an eager grind.

“Nothing is free, Off Jumpol,” Gun says, for emphasis. “Now, please, Papii—”

Off kisses Gun again like he can’t get enough—and he really can’t. They had kissed before but under such limits. Off kisses Gun’s neck, sucks and bites at the tender flesh he finds, listens to Gun groan and moves back to swallow down those sounds, to kiss Gun until they’re both panting for more.

Even kissing is exciting, otherworldly. Kissing is _especially_ exciting.

However…

“In me,” Gun is demanding, and who is Off to deny his request?

At their behest, the forest provides, although Off has no idea what or how, he just knows that it’s only a moment later that they’ve stripped away everything between them, that he’s flexing slicked fingers inside of Gun and Gun is gasping into his shoulder, saying, “Please,” again, his voice catching in his throat.

Another moment and Off is helping line himself up, holding Gun by the waist as he sinks down.

To kiss while they fuck, over and over, without fear that they might break the kiss, that they might have to wait until another letter is revealed, another piece of magic traded.

Gun must feel the same way that Off does because even as he works his body, fucks himself on Off’s cock, he clutches Off’s face between his hands, dropping light pecks then long, languorous kisses, tongues slip-sliding in slowed pace as he takes time to simply roll his hips, enjoy the ride.

Off grips Gun’s ass through a steady grind, Gun’s cock desperately seeking friction between them. He starts to move a hand and Gun says, “Don’t.”

“No?” Off asks, hand sliding back, then up Gun’s back, tracing his fingers back down in featherlight trails that make Gun shiver.

Gun bites his lip, must know exactly how he looks, the effect he’ll have on Off. “Gun can come with just Papii fucking me.”

“Fuck, bii.” Off has to flip them over, devour Gun’s lips in another kiss as he fucks him harder, finds the right rhythm that has Gun struggling to think, to even _breathe_ , clutching at Off so hard his nails become claws, dig into the flesh of Off’s shoulders and back like he’ll never let Off go.

And then he squeezes around Off, diving over the edge, and Off is right there with him, Gun milking him, spilling between them, a whole symphony of ecstasy, of synchronicity, of union.

A world within a world with just the two of them.

Off feels like every sense is heightened, alight with every facet of Gun, knows every detail, knows what’s inside his beating heart and the thrill of magic thrumming from his core to his every extremity.

Off feels the magic in himself, extending out from them, touching everything around them.

By the time he’s able to process the present as he did before, they’re kissing again, bodies connected, limbs entwined.

“Gun,” Off whispers, but he doesn’t know where to begin.

Neither does Gun, but he links their fingers, and the sensation tingles up Off’s spine.

He thinks to ask, _What happened?_

But Gun is shaking his head, is just pulling him down for another kiss.

The rain is pouring, it’s dark out, seedlings are sprouting, and Off doesn’t need to see any of it to know it’s there.

They spend the night together and when morning comes, the sun peeking through the clouds although rain still looms on the horizon. Between talking and exploring beyond the veil, finding no trace of the entity but catching the wary sights of creatures that no longer run from Off, although they do not approach. Everything is green, fresh, still reveling in the wet weather.

It’s only midway through the next morning that they’re sitting in the grass, drier winds finally finding them, when Gun brings up the idea of going back.

“I don’t want to leave you.”

Gun ducks his head. “I’ll go with you.”

Off is unsure he heard right. “What?”

“Papii...I think I should go with you.” He looks up, like he’s listening, and Off tunes his ears to the winds, too.

There are no words, but Off thinks there’s _something_ there. “Good. I don’t want you to be alone. Even if— Even if the deal is done, if we’re not connected like we were. I just don’t want anything to happen to you. What happened…”

He doesn’t say how scared he was, the state Gun had been in. None of that is necessary to mention when they both know it so well.

He doesn’t know what to say, but Gun must hear it anyway.

Gun plucks a flower from the air, a neat trick Off still doesn’t understand. “They’re part of me,” he says this time. “My power. My life. I can grow these manifestations of my energy anywhere, although it...” He stops there.

Suddenly the bracelet on Off’s wrist holds the weight of all the stars. He doesn’t ask Gun to take them back, although the idea flits through his mind. Instead he lifts his hand, offers himself to Gun.

Gun doesn’t twine the flower into Off’s bracelet with the others. Instead he takes Off’s hand and loops it around Off’s finger, the silvering slipping on like a part of him.

“A ring?” Off asks.

“Doesn’t it look prettier this way?” Gun asks, in much the same way he’d said that _prince_ sounded cuter than _king_ , like whatever the explanation it still doesn’t change the true meaning.

Off nods. “Mh.”

The way out seems easy now, Off knows without guidance from Gun or the invisible path he’d left before.

Off pauses at the boundary, hand in Gun’s. “Why are you going with me? We aren’t…” _We aren’t bound together anymore_ , but he glances down, catches the glint of the ring on his finger on the hand holding Gun’s.

“Why can’t I?” Again with the evasions, but again with his own uncertainties.

Gun crosses first and it’s Off who hesitates. “Why did we make that deal if we could’ve been like this anyway?”

“Would we?” Gun asks, and his voice is small now. “Why did you come into my woods?”

Off shrugs, steps forward onto the road. He hadn’t known at the time, it had just seemed an impulse, an accident. Then, the answer comes: “To find you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One chapter left! Please let me know if you've been enjoying this. I put a lot of work in. 💚


	8. i fear no fate (for you are my fate)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Atthaphan**

Off and Gun stop in the coffee shop rather than making their way back to Off’s.

Jennie greets them, however, with a warning. “Tay has been worrying himself sick, Khun Off,” she tells him, after, of course, taking a moment to pinch Gun’s cheek.

Off opens his mouth to ask more, but Jennie interrupts again before he can respond.

“But you two look like you’ve been rolling around in the woods. Everything okay? You didn’t make my little nong here too sore, did you?” She wraps an arm around Gun’s shoulder and pulls him to her warmly, protectively. “Remember, if he doesn’t treat you right, you can do better. And I can take him, so you won’t even have to worry he’ll be lonely.”

Off rolls his eyes, but then Lee is saying, “P’Off,” and placing two drinks on the counter.

“I didn’t order.”

“Gingerbread,” Gun announces with a smile, but then he’s being pulled back into a hug, Jennie rocking them back and forth as she murmurs some other words of comfort, words of advice, and probably some other choice phrases that Off doesn’t catch.

Off goes to grab the drinks and Jennie screams.

Off flips around, wondering if somehow something supernatural had happened again. Although, in hindsight, isn’t Gun more _natural_ than any of them?

Jennie is dragging Gun over to Off and grabbing Off’s hand, pulling it to her own face as well as Gun’s. “What is this?” She stares at Off, at Gun, their faces, Off’s hand again. “A _ring_?” She grabs Gun’s hands and examines them, then throws them back down. “So Papii gets a ring and you don’t?” She _hmphs_. “Does he get the best of everything?” She pouts at Off. “Where’s nong’s ring?”

Off chuckles rather awkwardly. “What?” He stutters. “Even if you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking, he’s…” _Not human? A fairy? A_ …

“What do I care if he’s not human? You two are cute. You look good together.” She lets go of Gun to retreat a step, hands on her hips as she gives them an overly thorough once-over.

Off smiles and lets her get away with it.

“ _Uiii_.” She walks to the back like she can’t handle them.

Off is able to actually hand Gun his drink this time, although he catches Lee trying to look at the ring, too. “It’s not…” But what _is_ it anyway? Better not try and explain what he doesn’t understand.

Off and Gun have just sat down, watching the world out the window as it warms to a rosy glow, when the door opens as if Tay _senses_ them. But Off’s pretty sure that’s not a thing Tay can do. Unless… Well, more things to avoid explaining

“Peng!” Tay grabs Off’s face in his hands and Off gives him a shove. “You’re not dead.” He clutches one of his rebuffed hands to his own chest. “With the storm and what happened in your room and—”

“What happened in your room?” Gun asks, eyes sharp.

“I tried to tell you,” Off argues. He really had. They’d gotten distracted instead and everything else had seemed like...a pleasant fog, the kind that carries an electrical charge. He’d had opportunity yesterday, when they’d specifically kept on the lookout for signs, but any memories of those terrors had been overwritten, at least temporarily, by the terror of finding Gun half-dead, and of the pleasures of being with Gun, the way he’d gripped Gun’s thighs when— This train of thought has derailed. Off attempts to right it back onto its tracks. “Something came to my bedroom when Ai’Tay was over, but I’m fine. See?” He gestures to himself, the metal of the bracelet tinkles, reminding him. “That was how this was damaged but then I just— I…” _My power. My life._ That’s what Gun had said. “Er.”

“Khun Off,” Jennie calls, and Off staggers up from the table, relieved at a moment to recompose himself.

Before he leaves the table, however, he presses a quick kiss to Gun’s lips, loving that he can, how it already feels natural.

Jennie waves him close. “What do you want to eat?” she asks, and Off is confused by how secretive she’s being, but then she continues. “But really,” and she bats her eyelashes at him coquettishly, “you and your little fairy _faen_ getting hitched? You can tell me.”

Off rolls his eyes. “It’s for protection,” he answers, because at least that’s true.

“That’s what condoms are for,” Jennie says with a dismissive gesture. She grabs Off’s hand and Off tries to pull it away, but she holds him by the ring. “This ring. On this finger. Something has definitely changed, _Papii_.”

Tugging his hand back, Off scowls. “That’s our business, isn’t it?”

Jennie nods. “Okay. Let me know when you figure it out,” she says, understanding full well that Off has no answer.

“Ready to take my order now?” As if he’d been the one to bring it up in the first place.

He tells Jennie what he wants and she agrees to make something, although it’s unclear whether or not it’ll be what he asked for. He heads back to the table, taking advantage of yet another opportunity to kiss Gun.

Tay is gaping at them.

“What?” Off asks, trying to suppress a smirk.

Tay gestures between them. “You know perfectly well _what_ , Jum—” Tay stops. “Peng. Off. Khun Off.”

“‘Jumpol’?” Gun suggests, preening a bit in his knowledge.

Tay’s brain seems to stutter over this development.

“Yeah,” Off affirms. “He knows.”

Arm arrives and Off shoots a questioning glance at Tay.

“I texted him,” Tay admits, huffing.

There are no chairs nearby to steal and Off stands up awkwardly, looking around. He offers his chair to Arm. Gun stands, too.

“What?” Off asks. “Sit. It’s fine.”

“Sit, Papii. Don’t worry.”

Something about Gun’s tone has him curious, a sweet mischievousness. Off takes Gun’s seat and Gun settles onto his lap.

Arm hides a grin behind his phone, clearly enjoying the show.

Tay balks, then schools his features. He sighs. “As my outrage means nothing to you, I’m going to start pretending it’s cute. And Gun is cute, you’re right.” Off can see Tay testing his reaction to the words and he tightens his arms around Gun’s waist.

“Sooo cute,” Arm agrees, beaming at Gun. Lee calls his name and he snags his drink in a flash, returns to the scene with glee. He watches as Tay works himself up into a fit.

“But are we really just going to ignore the fact that— _mmph_!”

Arm shoves a hand over Tay’s mouth and gives him a look. “Let’s let our beloved friend be happy.”

“Yeah, Ai’Tay,” Off replies, with much the air of a child sticking out their tongue.

Gun turns on Off’s lap and presses his lips to Off’s again, as his own form of agreement.

“Oho, should we let you two have a room?” Arm asks.

It was only another chaste kiss, but more than the pecks he’d given Gun when he left and came back, and Off flushes. It doesn’t stop him from hooking his chin over Gun’s shoulder. “It’s alright. We’re not doing anything scandalous.”

Tay clears his throat. “I thought kissing was part of your deal. Are you allowed to do that?”

“The deal is complete,” Gun reiterates. “We can do whatever we want.”

Arm stifles a laugh in his coffee.

“Until you make another deal?” Tay asks, but there’s an edge of actual concern there. “How long can you really stay?”

Gun pouts and Arm nudges Tay. “Didn’t I just tell you to let them be happy?”

“I _do_ want Off to be happy, but…” He stops.

Tay actually does stop, although it seems to pain him at times _not_ to say something as Gun snuggles into Off’s lap in a public space and Off just lets him.

They all stand to leave, although they make plans to meet up again at Off’s later and maybe even go to Gunsmile’s restaurant since Gun’s never been. Gun seems very interested in the various people and places in Off’s life, more so than before.

There’s no deal hanging over their heads, but Gun is with him, and Off finally feels like whatever he has with Gun is _real_. There’s nothing keeping them together except their desire to be together.

And Gun _loves_ him.

Just as he loves Gun.

Off rubs his thumb along the smooth silver band on his finger, up to the metal petals of the flower on top. It certainly does have specific connotations. He’s only _known_ Gun a couple of weeks, had always been someone to wait things out, feared commitment and had never understood those who went so quickly, headfirst, into any new entanglement, romantic or otherwise.

Yet...hadn’t he done the same? Under the guise of brokering a deal that had felt trivial yet titillating, hadn’t he become so entangled with Gun that he could not now fathom the idea of being apart?

It’s all so scary in his head, but then...there’s just Gun.

Gun and all his sweetness, his clinginess, his cuteness, his contriteness. Gun in all his otherworldliness, his power, his… _kingdom_.

Maybe it shouldn’t be so easy to reconcile all of that, to accept it, to accept what they’ve become.

_Whatever_ they’ve become.

Gun seems less the other, and he less the ordinary.

But that seems quite alright in and of itself.

“Ow, you’re leaving?” Jennie asks before they’re quite out the door. At their nods, she beckons Gun over. “Come here, nong, let me give you one last squeeze.”

And Gun just goes to her, even if this time Off can hear the tone of exaggerated complaint in his voice.

Tay’s head swivels after Gun, but then he’s focused on Off, standing way too close again. “What’s going on, Peng?”

Off shrugs.

Rolling his eyes, Tay takes a second, composes himself. “Is this good? Are you two…” He tries to think of the right word, but it doesn’t seem to come. “He’s here with you still, even though the deal is over. And, Jumpol, I don’t think I need to point out the fact that you’re wearing what looks to be a wedding ring. What happened the past two days? I know you were with Krist and Singto, then Arm and Alice—”

“Did Joss ask you out?” Off interrupts, hoping to distract.

Tay’s mouth hangs open a second, then he swallows. He doesn’t let Off throw him and goes on. “And that was the last anyone saw of you. For _two days_ , Peng. You come back _with him_ and with a _ring_ and act like everything is fine. Can’t you at least tell me if you can’t tell the others? Something’s different.”

“Ai’Tay,” he starts, but then he looks at Tay’s face, his _best friend’s_ face. Off glances at Gun. “You’re right. Something is different. But I don’t know how to explain it. Gun was hurt, okay? I went to find him and he was hurt and we completed the deal so I couldn’t get him hurt again.”

Tay attempts to keep up. “The link, right? Because of the deal? It made him weaker.”

Off nods. “And now...I don’t know.”

“The ring?” Tay presses.

This question earns him a glare. “I really don’t know, Ai’Peng.”

Tay _hmphs_.

Gun is back to Off’s side again, clinging as if magnetized.

“I’m sorry,” Tay says, just as he had last time. This time, he doesn’t have an easy out, he addresses Gun directly. “The deal is over. I know that you don’t mean any harm to my friend. I’m still not quite sure what your intentions are, but we should be on the same side.” He offers a hand. “I know I’ve been suspicious of you, but could I barter a truce?”

Gun stares at Tay’s hand in consideration. “You think I’m cute,” he says.

“Er…” Tay stares at Gun, then Off, then Gun again. “Yes…?” He starts to pull his hand back. “I know I was a jerk again today, but—”

Gun envelopes Tay in a hug. “It’s okay, P’Tay. Just help me take care of Papii.”

Off has to do a double take. “‘Phi’?”

Letting go of Tay, Gun nods, as if he hadn’t threatened Off when he had tried to call him “nong” in their first couple of meetings. Truly, Gun is much older, Off has the book at home to prove it, but Gun _does_ let Jennie “nong.” Apparently Gun is accepting Tay and perhaps even Jennie as close to him. Off is close to him, but…

Gun latches onto Off’s arm. “Let’s go home, Papii.”

_Home_.

They say their goodbyes and Off and Gun walk wrapped around each other. It might be a little awkward, but there’s something nice about it, too.

Gun unlocks Off’s door without any key and Off stares at him. “I know your name,” Gun explains, as if that’s all the explanation needed. And maybe it is.

Only when he’s closing the door behind them does Off ask, “Do you normally need a key? Or an invitation?”

Gun rolls his eyes. “Not exactly.”

Off hesitates, shrugs. He has other things he’d rather ask about and, apparently, Gun has other things on _his_ mind, too.

“Papii.”

Off turns from double checking the lock—Tay or any of the others busting in isn’t exactly what he wants right now—to find Gun tossing his jacket over the back of Off’s couch and staring at Off with that hungry look. He wants to ask about Gun calling his place “home.”

...But Gun’s hands are already on him, one of Gun’s fingers hooking into the waistband of his pants. Gun steps in close and Off’s eyes are captivated the way Gun’s licks his lips , draws in his bottom lip, bites it.

Gun’s hands, Gun’s expression...

Off is already hard.

Gun tugs Off over to the couch, leaning Off against the arm instead of tumbling them both down like Off expects. “What?”

Gun drops to his knees and unbuttons Off’s fly while staring up from under his lashes. He tugs the zipper down, nuzzles his face against Off. “Papii…”

“Bii.” Off can barely breathe, concentrating on the image of Gun on his knees.

Gun, who finishes tugging Off’s pants down, starts mouthing Off’s cock through the fabric of his underwear. Off already knows Gun is immensely better at this than he is. Gun finally frees Off’s cock and sucks wet kisses up the length. He runs his hands up Off’s thighs and cups Off’s balls, moves back down the length of Off’s cock to press a kiss at the base. Gun’s breath is hot, tickles a little.

Off is panting. “Gun, bii.”

Gun smirks and laps his tongue over the tip and Off _whimpers_. Mercifully, Gun takes the next opportunity to swallow him all the way down and _suck_ and Off grips the edge of the couch to keep himself from collapsing.

Gun glances up, bats his eyelashes, slowly pulls back until Off’s cock has almost slipped free, lips rounding over the head, and then he slides back down. His cheeks hollow as he takes Off all the way into his throat. He keeps going, building in rhythm only to slow, start back up again.

“Baby.” Off doesn’t have any other words, doesn’t know how long he’ll last. The feeling of Gun’s mouth, the way he looks up at Off.

Gun bobs his head and one of his hands wraps around the shaft of Off’s cock and Off is _trying_ to let Gun know that he’s about to come. Gun pulls back, hand still working, mouth open as Off starts to come, shooting onto Gun’s tongue and lips and cheek and—

Well, that’s an image that Off will never get over.

Gun licks what he can reach and swallows and Off’s knees buckle, he lets himself fall over the arm of the couch and onto the couch cushions.

Gun follows, crawling onto Off, somehow stripping in the process until he’s all but naked on top of Off.

“Papii, I want you,” Gun is saying, and Off is still trying to catch his breath.

Off looks up at him, dazed. “You wanna be on top?”

Gun’s hands rest on Off’s chest. Off’s bare chest. When had Gun even…? “Papii, what are you saying?”

“Gun… Do you want to fuck me?” Off asks, hoping he projects confidence. But if Gun can fuck him half as well as he does everything else, he knows it’ll be good. He trusts Gun.

“I’ll take good care of you,” Gun says, hearing the genuine offer, not making it more awkward for Off to ask, and Off is immensely grateful.

Next thing Off knows, he’s on his knees on the couch, Gun opening him with his fingers.

It’s weird, but also… Also, it’s really _good_. Gun crooks his fingers and Off sees stars. He’s pretty sure he zones out for a while but then the sensation stops and he comes back to himself.

“Papii, the noises you were making were so hot.” Gun kisses Off’s back. “Are you ready for me?”

Oh. Off has to be present again, has to make a decision. Gun expects him to _say something_ , all he manages is, “Gun.”

Gun giggles. “Okay, Papii. I’ll be gentle.” And then Gun is pressing into him and Off is losing it again.

They’re so connected that Off can feel every minute tremble of Gun’s body, and realizes that he’s trembling, too. He feels full, fulfilled, hadn’t thought he’d ever be in this position and is already eager to do it again.

“You feel so good,” Gun is crooning. “So good at taking me.”

A rise of embarrassment wars with a rise in desire. He likes Gun talking to him like that and he can’t believe he came only a little while ago because it’s honestly so amazing and he feels so good and—

“Papii,” Gun murmurs, pressing more kisses to Off’s back. “You’re fucking back against me. Is it good?”

Off hadn’t even realized. His voice shakes like his legs as he says, “Fuck, Gun. Ai’Gun. So good.”

Another laugh. “You wanna touch yourself?”

Off hesitates, has to find leverage and can’t and Gun’s hand finds him. Off moans, doesn’t know whether to fuck back against Gun’s cock or into Gun’s hand and Gun starts moving faster.

“Papii, I’m going to come in you, okay?” Gun is saying and those words are what send Off over, Gun following.

It takes forever to come down and Off finds himself on his back, Gun wiping him down, having already _been_ wiping him down. Gun is exceedingly gentle and Off gets to just watch him for a second before Gun notices that he’s _actually_ present.

“Are you okay?” Gun asks, but the amused glint in his eye tells Off that he already knows.

Off’s embarrassment takes over then, forcing him to hide his face behind his hands. Suddenly, a thought occurs. “Is the couch?”

Gun laughs, nods towards a pile of clothes on the floor.

Off really hadn’t had a clue where his clothes had gone so he feels a little guilt now, having let Gun do literally all the work, but then he sighs, he looks up at Gun, eyes roving over every minute detail of Gun’s stupidly beautiful face. “You? Are you okay?”

Gun’s expression breaks into an amused smile. “I’m okay, Papii. Are you ready to shower? P’Tay should be here soon.”

Off must’ve lost more time than he thought. He nods, tries to hop up, winces, and then goes more slowly.

Off has never actually used his bathtub before, mostly forgets that he _can_ take baths in here, but it seems bigger than he’d thought—big enough that he and Gun manage to fit, at least. They soak in the hot water for a while and Off lets some of the tension, the new ache, leave his body, until it hurts but in a dully pleasant way. A reminder of Gun.

“I never thought…” Off doesn’t finish the sentence, but Gun, leaned back against his chest, nods.

“And yet you asked me,” he says, clearly pleased.

Even if it hadn’t been as good as it was, hearing how happy it makes Gun that he’d even _offered_ sends a little trill of pleasure up Off’s spine. “Mh. And you were eager to try it, weren’t you?” he teases.

Gun giggles and flips over after another minute, kisses him softly.

Eventually, they’re all cleaned up and dressed, Off giving Gun free reign of his closet.

Gun dries his hair and Off has never had anyone who did that for him, not since he was a kid. It feels so very much like he’s allowed to keep Gun now, like it isn’t a fantasy but a reality.

“How long can you stay?” Off asks, and immediately wishes he hadn’t.

He expects something like “not long” or “until the morning” or something like that. Instead, Gun shrugs. “A while.”

It’s vague but it gives Off hope. They check the time and head over to the convenience store nearby, see Namtan, who coos over “P’Off’s ring” but is still very nice to them.

“Pretty, right?” Gun says, pointing at Off’s ring.

Namtan nods. “It suits him.” She smiles at Gun and Gun smiles back.

When they’re about to leave, she says, “I know we aren’t exactly close, but if you ever have the wedding, invite me.”

“Er.” Off doesn’t know what to say, nods and shrugs at the same time.

But Gun says, “Only if you bring a good gift,” and he and Namtan laugh.

After they’re outside, Off asks him about it, but Gun just shrugs at him.

Only when they’re back and Gun is sipping a juice on Off’s—thankfully unmarred if not un _sullied_ —couch that Off remembers something else he wanted to ask about. He nudges Gun until Gun looks at him.

“You called Tay ‘phi’ today.”

“Mh,” Gun agrees.

Off screws up his features, trying not to laugh. For him to go from fearing that Gun or Tay might hurt each other to that hug and “P’Tay” seems quite the difference. “Didn’t you try to destroy me for calling you ‘nong’? What about me? Am I not ‘phi’?”

Gun huffs, snuggling into Off’s side. “You’re Pa _pii_.”

Off blinks, his whole perception shifting. “This whole time?”

“Mh. You were right. ‘Nong’ is cuter.” He rests his head on Off’s shoulder.

Off forces him to shift again, to look at him. “ _Nong Gun_ ,” Off tries out, leaning in close. He tickles Gun’s side and smirks when Gun squirms.

“Papii,” Gun whines, “I want to watch the series.”

Off gives Gun another tickle for good measure. “Okay, nong,” he says, for good measure. “’Pii will let you.”

Gun settles in again and their eyes return to the TV but Off’s focus stays on Gun. He’s never loved anyone like this, so completely.

It’s not long after that there’s a knock on the door, and Off extricates himself from Gun on the couch to open it. It’s actually Alice, who seems to be more punctual than either Tay or Arm today.

“Arm was still picking an outfit when I called.”

“We’re just going to Gunsmile’s,” Off says. “I don’t think he needs to dress up.”

Alice shrugs. “They don’t call him ‘Perfect Man’ for nothing.” After she steps in, her eyes lock onto Gun and she walks over, asks to sit beside him and he nods. “How are you liking it?” she asks. “Being out here?”

Gun smiles at her. “I like it. I like being in Papii’s world.” He glances out the window, around the room. “I want to be here.”

Grinning, Alice picks up a book from the table. “Oh. Did he show you?”

Off has taken a seat in the chair across from them and is nervous even though he ought not to be. “You’re in there,” Off says.

Gun looks up at Off, back at the book.

Alice flips it open and shows Gun the page that had made Off so certain, even if she still can’t see what he’d seen.

Gun laughs, running his fingers over it. “‘Specter’?” he reads. “I’m not a ghost.”

“Oh,” Off says. “I know.”

Alice glances between them. “I’m guessing that saying ‘Jumpol’ will mean nothing at this point,” she states.

“Mh,” Off agrees. “He knows my name. I know his name. It’s all over with. That part, at least.”

Alice is silent for a long moment, as if assuring herself of the words she just heard. “You know his name?”

Gun looks a bit shy now. “I told him my name first,” he says. “I didn’t want Papii to think I was just using him.”

Again, Alice seems to be thinking. Then, she puts a hand to Gun’s knee. “Do you love him?” she asks.

Gun doesn’t get a chance to answer because there’s another knock on the door, Arm calling his greetings and Off telling him to let himself in—but only this once.

Alice hasn’t moved her hand and Arm takes a seat on her other side, feeling the tension and now not daring to speak.

Gun nods, knowing Alice is still waiting on his answer. Her head swivels to Off.

Off raises an eyebrow. “What?”

“You love each other. You exchanged names.”

“Yeah,” Off affirms, a memory niggling at the back of his mind.

Alice turns to Gun. “Do _you_ know what that means?”

Opening and closing his mouth for a minute, Gun finally answers. “It felt right.”

Back to Off. “‘It felt right,’” she repeats. “Is that how it felt to you?”

Feeling put on the spot, Off nods, fidgets with his ring and thus brings Alice’s attention to it.

“I’m not an expert on the fae,” she starts, “and I would think Gun might know better. But that’s…”

“Didn’t you say that a fairy giving you their name was like marriage?” Arm asks, having paid attention to the things Alice has said.

Alice freezes, hesitates. “Gun?”

Gun looks almost as surprised as Off at the revelation, but he calms just as quickly. “Well...I wanted Papii to be mine. To be Papii’s.” His eyes meet Off’s and Off can see every ounce of Gun’s sincerity.

“I thought you lived out there to be alone,” Arm says.

Gun shakes his head. “I was alone, but...Gun didn’t want to be.”

Off hasn’t dwelled on that thought much lately, how lonely Gun had seemed. And now… That’s a big step. “I wanted you to be mine, and to be yours.” He stares at Gun and Gun stares back and feels like he’s the one asking now, affirming. He feels as if he should drop to one knee, but he’s already wearing a ring, and he can’t magic something into existence for Gun in return. He still feels, however, that thrum of magic, an intangible tether to Gun and to everything else.

“Should we go?” Arm asks.

Off shakes his head. He holds up his hand. “I think it’s already too late.”

“Papii, are you okay?” Gun asks, and the tone, the context, is so very different than when he’d asked earlier.

Off smiles. “I get to keep you.”

Alice is the first to say, “Congratulations!”

Arm is following suit when the door opens and Tay steps in.

“What are we congratulating?” Tay asks. “Are we celebrating something?”

“Gun and I…” He hesitates for only a second but Tay speaks up.

“You’re moving in together? I thought he had to stay out in the woods.”

“Er… I’m not sure about that part.” Off and Gun share a look. “But we’ll figure it out.”

“So?” Tay prompts.

Gun takes the initiative this time. “Papii and I are married.”

Tay’s eyes widen. “I knew it!” He pauses. “Are you freaking out, Jumpol? This whole thing has gone very fast. Is this...safer?”

“I’m actually really happy,” Off says, and Arm and Alice “ _aww_ ” at his admission.

“Are we still going to Gunsmile’s?” Tay says, checking the time on his phone. Off has a feeling a certain someone will be there, if Tay is this eager.

“Gun?” Off is willing to leave it up to Gun, if by some chance Gun isn’t up for going. Off is okay with the fact that everyone will see him with Gun at Gunsmile’s, even if the crowd is a bit different than the people he hangs out with at Jennie’s, people who already know.

Gun nods. “I want to meet Papii’s friends.”

Arm clears his throat. “We’ll wait for you outside.” Tay tries to argue but Arm and Alice usher him out, giving Off and Gun a moment alone.

“So, you’re mine, right?” Off affirms, reaffirms, wants to ask a million times over as long as he’ll keep hearing some form of “ _yes_ ” as the answer.

“I’m yours,” Gun says. “And you’re mine.”

It’s not a question, but Off answers anyway, hopes it makes Gun feel as good as Gun’s answer had made him feel. “I’m yours.” Gun’s smile is everything, and Off wraps his arms around Gun, pulling him in close and kissing him for good measure.

Gun pushes back only to grab Off’s hands, thread their fingers together. “We’ll talk more when we get home?”

“‘Home,’” Off repeats aloud this time. “Does that mean you think of this as home, nong?”

“If Papii is mine, this is home.” Gun pouts, thinking. “Papii knows, right?”

“What do I know?”

“That what’s mine is yours, too.”

Off thinks he gets it, but it’s a lot to get.

Hand in hand, they head out the door, something in Off’s head buzzing about the fact that he’s —by fairy rules. And quite accidentally. It seems almost better for it to have happened that way.

Alice, Arm, and Tay are all arm-in-arm, a trio to accompany their duo. Alice volunteers to drive there in Off’s car if someone else will drive back, which Off agrees to.

In the backseat, Off, Gun, and Tay are squished together and Gun asks questions of “Papii” and “P’Tay” about what to expect and who all he’ll be meeting. Arm coos at them from the passenger seat and asks if, since he, Off, Tay, and Alice were all born the same year, he can be “P’Arm.”

Off laughs. “You know he’s older than all of us, right?”

Arm presses his palms together to _wai_ at Gun, if playfully.

Gun waves his hand. “No, no. That’s okay, P’Arm. Gun looks young. Gun can be everyone’s ‘nong.’”

It’s such a change from how Gun had been before, but that Gun had been a lonely fairy beyond the veil, protecting his domain from a human who happened to wander in, too stupid not to give up his name on a whim. This Gun is _his_ Gun. His Gun is part of his world, his real world. All worlds with Gun are real.

They arrive at Gunsmile’s and there’s already a gathering there, food and drinks and laughter lively and inviting if not a bit overwhelming. Arm had called Ssing and Ssing had called Gunsmile and Gunsmile had set aside enough space for them all to crowd in.

“So how do you know P’Off?” Gunsmile asks as Gun takes a seat. He makes eye contact with Off over Gun’s head, fingers pinching together to indicate _tiny_ and Off grins, but schools his features as Gun turns his way.

Gun looks at Off, then back to Gunsmile. “How does Gun know Papii? He’s my husband.”

The chatter around them dies down and everyone collectively shares a look. Off is suddenly nervous. It’s not like he’d even been properly out to his friends—besides, apparently, everyone Tay accidentally told without his permission. Tay is only halfway decent with secrets.

“Mh,” Off agrees with a nod. He pulls Gun’s chair a little closer to his. Gun takes advantage of their even closer proximity to lean his head on Off’s shoulder, wrap his arms around one of Off’s.

“ _Cute_ ,” Toptap says, and Mike is nodding in agreement. “I didn’t know P’Off could be so—”

“Tolerant?” Mike suggests and earns a whack from Toptap.

“ _Sweet_ ,” Toptap corrects.

“Sickening,” Gunsmile says but he’s grinning and so is everyone else.

“I’m with him,” Tay says, but then is immediately distracted by the next customer who enters.

Off can’t see who it is but based on Tay’s reaction, he can only assume it’s New. Tay doesn’t perk up like that for just anyone and Tay has spent so very long thirsting after New that, despite whatever concerns Off might have for his friend’s future happiness, he can’t imagine it’s actually anyone else.

But then he hears Jennie’s squeal as she runs over to hug everyone, beginning with Gunsmile, and turns to see that she’s brought all her hunky baristas with her.

Tay’s love life is yet inconclusive, but it’s Lee who settles into the seat beside Tay, Joss and New across.

Whatever the case, Tay seems to have a good time as the night wears on.

Everyone congratulates Off and Gun, although the questions about what had happened to make Off commit, and so quickly, as well as the ones about how Off and Gun had met start a bit awkward, with Off uncertain of how truthful they should be. Finally, Off says, “Well, I wandered into the woods…”

Ssing laughs. “Oh! Is he the fairy of the forest over here? I’d always heard fairies were beautiful but…” He looks Gun over.

“ _Oi_.” Off scoots down in his seat to kick Ssing under the table, nearly falling from his chair if not for the way Gun hoists him back up.

“Fairy?” Gunsmile asks and Jennie confirms it.

The group collectively let out, “ _Ohhh_ ,” as if things make more sense now rather than less.

Gunsmile scratches his head. “Maybe _I_ should’ve gone out there.”

Off glares at him and he laughs. Really, though, Off hates the idea of anyone else being with Gun, that someone else might’ve wandered out first and found him, that they could’ve been the one to—

Gun shakes his head, puts his hand on Off’s shoulder as he whispers in his ear. “Papii, it’s only you. It only ever would’ve been you.”

“Really?” Off asks, turning slightly even though it means their faces are too close to look at each other properly.

“It’s like you said, you came to find me.” Gun presses a kiss to Off’s neck. “And I was waiting for you.”

Off brings enough space between them to look at Gun properly, earnest eyes staring back. “Fate?” Off asks, having never truly believed until now.

Gun nods.

The night comes to an end with the bittersweet feeling of parting, but by the time Off and Gun have dropped Alice, Arm, and Tay at Arm’s place, Off is more than happy to go back to the quiet of him and Gun.

Tay had suggested he could stay over, but Arm told him there was no need to chaperone, which had made Tay stutter over the fact that Off and Gun had gotten some kind of fairy married, which seemed more appalling to him at times, with a couple of drinks in him, and then some strange combination of envious and adoring. Whatever the case, Alice and Arm would deal with Tay and his feelings.

Off had Gun.

The moon is bright tonight, shining through his bedroom window. They’d showered and changed into the clothes Off usually slept in, everything a bit over-large on Gun but in a way that made him somehow breathtaking in the human normalcy of it. Gun still has that glow about him, and it feels like the moon’s light shines just for him.

At least, that’s how it feels to Off. In the night, just Gun and no other friends and distractions, Off is keenly aware of all the things he knows now. He can sense the moon’s position, the possible precipitation, the plant he’d kept in his bedroom. He has to ask, even though this is something that he thinks he already understands. “Bii.”

“Mh?” Gun turns to face him on the bed, flopping his legs over Off’s. He pinches at Off’s face, examining him.

“I can feel it,” Off says.

It’s not much, but it seems to be enough. Gun nods. “We’re connected. I wasn’t sure at first but now…”

“You said love is magic. Can magic...come from love?”

Gun laughs. “Of course, Papii.”

Off glances out the window, eyes instinctively aiming towards the edge of the woods. “Out there?”

Again, little context. Again, Gun gets what he means. This time, he sighs. “Ours.”

“Your— _Our_ domain?” Off asks, because this one he really feels he must specify. “And you didn’t know all this when you gave me your name?” There’s a teasing incredulity there.

“Humans think too much. Explain too much. Love is magic. Fate, too.” Gun shrugs. “So I told you my name. I didn’t know what it meant, but I didn’t need to.”

Off isn’t sure he fully believes Gun. There is no lie in the words, but Off thinks there’s a lot more feeling than what Gun says now, as if Gun wishes to preserve some shred of the mystery he’d held at their first meeting. “You seem a lot more _human_ , Nong Gun,” Off says.

It earns him a pout. “I probably am.”

“Oh?”

“We’re connected,” Gun repeats. “It goes both ways.”

“Like how this is home,” Off suggests.

“And so are the woods, so is everything beyond the veil.”

“Huh.” Off can see starlight reflected in Gun’s eyes, pinpricks of dazzling brightness. Maybe it’s not reflected, Maybe the stars were always there.

“Papii.”

“Yeah, baby?”

Gun leans in, pressing his lips to Off’s. The kiss breaks for only a second before he dives back in, breath catching, moans slipping, lips and tongues and teeth.

Straddling Off’s hips, Gun suddenly pauses. “Will Papii give Gun a ring, too?”

Off chuckles. “I can’t guarantee something as special as what you gave me…”

Gun shakes away the notion. “I just want to see I’m yours.” He steals another kiss, grinding back against Off.

“You are,” Off says. He could say it a million times—and he probably will. His hands roam down Gun’s back to grip Gun’s ass, squeeze Gun’s thighs. They tease like this for a moment, clothes keeping that bit of frustrating distance between them as their hands touch wherever they can, Gun’s hands crawling under Off’s shirt to claw lightly over his nipples, making Off arch under him.

Off rubs his hand against Gun through Gun’s pants— _Off’s_ pants, but it’s all the same now—and feels how hard Gun is, thinks about how Gun was in him just earlier that day with a pleasant ache.

“Gun’s Papii is good with his hands,” Gun says, “but I want you inside.”

Off wonders if he’ll ever have the confidence to say it quite like that, but the spike of desire it sends through every inch of him is enough that he ought to try at some point, for Gun’s sake. “Okay, baby.” Off hooks his thumbs into the waistband of Gun’s shorts. “You wanna ride me or what?”

“Mh. You want me to?” Gun leans down to press a not-quite-chaste kiss to Off’s lips. He rubs back against Off’s cock again. 

The stripping is more hurried than it needs to be, as is the way Gun fingers himself open while Off watches. He still makes a show of it and Off stares in awe.

“Is that enough?” Off asks, as Gun frees his fingers.

“Need you,” Gun says, and Off accepts it without another question.

Off slicks his cock and then steadies Gun by his waist and hips and Gun slowly sinks onto him, one hand guiding Off’s cock into him. They take a minute to adjust, enjoy.

Off’s hand slides up Gun’s chest and Gun takes it between both of his own hands, slipping two of Off’s fingers into his mouth, tongue swirling around the silver of the ring, sending a tingle up Off’s spine. It’s quite a sight.

Gun lets his hand go long enough to say, “I like feeling full.” He draws Off’s fingers back into his mouth, sucking them slowly.

Off’s hips jerk unconsciously at the feeling and Gun moans around Off’s fingers. Gun starts doing it more purposefully, fucking himself down onto Off’s cock while he sucks Off’s fingers.

There’s only so long that Off can wait before he pulls his hand away and crushes Gun’s mouth to his, licking into Gun’s mouth and snapping his hips up just so, the shock of sound Gun makes caught between them. Again, again, again.

Gun is moving with him with a sort of carnal grace, meeting each thrust, Off’s hands on his ass again to add leverage. They fall into a pattern that has Gun panting.

“Papii, _Papii_ , please, please, please,” Gun breathes.

Off can feel Gun’s cock seeking friction between them and one hand snakes into the almost negligible gap to take him in hand, to hope to help him find release. “Gun, baby, come for Papii,” he’s murmuring, no longer able to kiss Gun, to do anything but work their rhythm as need increases and sanity decreases, the wall between them nonexistent. “Love you, love you.”

“Love you,” Gun is returning, his toes curling, and then they’re clutching each other tight, riding out a long wave until the calm comes.

It’s raining again and Off laughs, that knowledge slipping through the cracks of their shell, the outside world working its way in. He cups Gun’s face in his hands, Gun lax and pliable as Off lifts his face to kiss him.

The heat, the hunger, have not completely gone, but the love is what would be overwhelming, even frightening, were it not so welcome, so right, so mutual.

Off breaks the kiss, a thought occurring. “If we’re still connected,” a funny phrase given their current position, and Off clarifies, “with the magic… Does that mean you’re weak again? That I’m putting you at risk?”

“’S different,” Gun says, yawning, which in itself should disagree. “Like this, how we are now… Papii makes me stronger.”

“Mh,” Off grunts, running a hand up and down Gun’s back. “Are you sure?”

Gun nods against Off’s shoulder and, after a while longer, rolls to the side.

Off cleans them up and they settle into his bed, which has somehow survived their lovemaking. Another question comes to him. “If I didn’t love you, would it still be like this? The…” Off swallows. “The connection. The tie between us.”

Gun shrugs. “If you didn’t love me, I wouldn’t have tried. I barely know myself,” he admits. “But Papii does love me.” He smiles.

“And Gun loves Papii,” Off says, a soft smile of his own.

“So much.” Gun kisses Off again and they drift.

In the morning, they stay home to discuss what must be done next. Well, they stop by the corner store where they’re greeted by a very sleepy Namtan to grab some basics, then return home to stay in.

Gun attempts making breakfast, trying to get more used to this whole needing to eat thing.

“Will we still need to eat out there?” Off asks, wondering how much has changed, knowing Gun is at least more attuned with the magic, the whispers, the _feel_ of fate.

Gun shakes his head, plating up the food. “Here is here, there is there. Our holds are different. The whole human world isn’t yours, Papii, so it’s limited. The whole fae world isn’t mine, but everything there? That’s ours. In here to a degree, too.”

“In my house?” Off asks, and Gun nods. “Wherever we have a claim, right? However that’s recognized?”

Gun smiles like Off is particularly clever and rewards him with a kiss. “I think that’s why I could leave,” Gun adds after a minute. “The barrier between worlds was thinner because we were so close. Gun and Papii are supposed to be together. If it wasn’t _my_ domain, it would be different. It made it hard for me to leave.”

“ _Our_ domain, _tee rak_?” Off teases, but it makes Gun smile.

“Mh,” Gun agrees happily. “Ours.”

They don’t split their time between one world and the other so much as share it, like they share everything.

It’s only a month or so later that Off is working and Gun is out beyond the veil that Off feels compelled to go out into their domain, to find Gun. He’s still not sure if it’s Gun that calls to him at times like these, or if it’s the other spirits and creatures, or perhaps even the magic itself. He just knows that the whispers are directing him in the way that fate favors and since fate had favored him with Gun, Off has decided that fate is decently trustworthy.

He and Tay are back working from the office some of the time, along with Mike and Toptap, but his boss, Godji, adores Gun. It makes it much easier when he tells her he has to leave for fairy-related reasons.

Sometimes she says she thinks he’s a good husband, but other times she warns him that if he hurts Gun, it’ll all be over for him. He reminds her that he’s known her longer, but it doesn’t seem to matter. Gun has that effect on people. Luckily for Off, however, Gun still chooses _him_ over everyone else.

He and Tay had been to Jennie’s before work as usual, and, as usual, had brought a drink for Godji. She’s barely even had a sip and yet Off is about to tell her he needs to leave.

Off would feel guiltier, more like he was slacking, if it weren’t for the way the whispers buzz around him now. It’s not a danger that he feels, like when something encroaches on their space, but a different hum and thrum in the air, a promise of excitement.

There’s the icy chill of change, too, but it feels like good tidings, cool like mint rather than the bite of frost. Off has never been good with change, but he’s adjusting. Gun is strangely better at it than he is, always eager and aware.

“P’Godji,” Off calls, even though Gun calls her “Mae.” Gun has really slipped far too seamlessly into his world, fits in better than he does, far more fond of crowds and chaos. Then again, Off loves the solitude and solace beyond the veil.

Godji turns to him and narrows her eyes. Mike is at her heels as he so often is. “What is it this time, Jumpol?” she asks, but her serious tone devolves quickly to a tease. “Is it Gun? What does he need? Can I help?”

See? She loves Gun. Off waves his hand. “He should be fine, but...can I write the rest of the article from home? I need to take care of something. And, yes, it is about Gun.”

Godji sighs. “I know you’re responsible...so yes. As long as you bring Gun in sometime this week. I miss my son, you know?” she says.

Off laughs. “Of course. I’ll ask him. I’m sure he’d love to come see you, too.”

Mollified, Godji smiles. “Alright, alright, _Papii_ , go see your husband. I’m sure he misses you after, what? Three hours apart?”

Off scrunches up his face in an embarrassed sort of grin, but Godji says it’s nice they’re like that, that they _can_ separate, even though they’re so fond of being together. When Tay had told her that it was quite literally fate that had brought Off and Gun together, she had demanded Off write an article about that.

Off had declined, but she still brings it up in passing every once in a while. Sometimes he feels like he’s too in tune with fate now to tell anyone else about it. It’s just that his knowledge only applies to his own destiny, and to Gun’s.

And…

Off knows that something is up, but he still doesn’t know what.

When he walks through the woods, it is as a part of them now, like everything else that dwells in their domain, even if Off doesn’t strictly live there. He feels himself drawing closer to Gun and he finds Gun waiting for him, just as keenly aware of Off’s presence as Off is Gun’s.

“Papii,” Gun says, as delighted as he’s ever been to see Off. He pulls Off down to press a kiss to Off’s neck, one of his favorite spots, and then says, “What are you doing here?”

Rarely has he been given these opportunities, but Off smiles. “I’m supposed to be here. What’s going on, baby?”

Gun pouts, placing his hands on Off’s chest. Gun’s ring sparkles like starlight even in the sunshine. “I don’t know, Papii, but there’s someone here.”

Off goes tense. “Someone?” That promise the magic had given him earlier, the positivity, seems like a lie at Gun’s words. Off isn’t one to trust strangers and he’s certain that it’s no one he knows, not here. “What kind of someone?”

“ _Papii_ ,” Gun whines, the kind of whine Gun makes when Off is being that miserly version of himself that Gun had never even really known.

“Sorry, Gun,” Off says. “But how do you know it’s safe? What kind of— of _person_ is here?” He winds his arms around Gun. “I just want to make sure everything is okay. If something happened to you—”

“I know, Papii. Gun feels the same.” He pulls away and grabs Off’s hands, swinging their arms, Off’s bracelet and Off’s ring and Gun’s ring all screaming of their connection, as if they can’t feel a connection at the level of every nerve, every cell, every indefinable everything. “He’s safe.”

“‘He’?” Off asks, and on top of fear of danger rides a thin layer of jealousy, like someone might be here to take Gun, powerful enough for Gun to realize that Off isn’t—

Gun silences the bad thoughts with a squeeze of his hands, a kiss. “Papii, it’s another fairy.”

Suddenly, Off is more curious than concerned. “Oh? I thought that they couldn’t come here. Or they didn’t?” He tries to remember exactly what Gun had told him, but mostly he remembers everything else he and Gun had done that day, after he’d given Gun a ring—“ _Finally_ ,” Gun had said, as if less than two months of knowing each other had been a terribly long wait—and then Tay had walked in on their little celebration.

“Other fairies can come here, as long as they have no claim and no bad intentions,” Gun confirms now.

“So...a wanderer?”

“Someone young, less established,” Gun tries to explain in a way Off will understand.

“Er.” Off tilts his head. “What does ‘young’ mean to you, _nong_?”

Gun tugs at Off’s wrist. He hums in thought. “Under a century?”

Off laughs. “Okay, bii.” He squints at Gun. “I thought you didn’t know what was going on.” He points at Gun’s face, smirking, and Gun hides his face in Off’s chest.

“I don’t know,” Gun emphasizes. “That’s it. I know he’s young and fae.”

“Alright,” Off says. “Shall we go find him then? Offer him some help?”

Gun giggles as he grabs Off’s hand and they wander out to the further reaches, deeper into the veil. “It’s like we’re going to adopt a kid,” he says, and Off turns to look at him.

Off wants to ask if that’s what Gun is looking for. They’ve been kind of married for over a month, which seems like not very long, and yet… It’s all so settled, so solid, so _fated_. He can’t imagine not being with Gun. More than that, though?

They walk far longer than seems possible given the expanse of the woods from a human perspective, Beyond the veil, however, space tends to be a bit different. There’s more than there appears to be, which is why humans so often get lost. Off thinks of it that way, of _humans_ getting lost as if he doesn’t count himself among them. He’s not sure where he fits these days, except perfectly with Gun.

Gun is first to discover the other fairy, turning around, looking up.

There’s a boy sitting in the tree. A boy who, oddly enough, looks an awful lot like Gun in some ways. It’s partially the gestures, Off thinks as he does a double-take, the way the boy swings his legs, watches them with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

He _wai_ s them both from his position on the tree branch. “Phi,” the fairy greets.

“Come down here,” Gun commands, but it’s not without charm. The other fairy opens his mouth and Gun says, “Come on, Wachi—”

“ _Chimon_ ,” the fairy says, hopping down to stand before them.

Off looks Chimon up and down, noting that Gun had called him something else, can hear whisper of _Wachirawit_ from the leaves, from the spirits. He’s never known the woods to give up a name like that before.

Chimon pouts at Gun. “Don’t use my real name, _Atthaphan_ ,” he says, causing Off to startle.

Gun laughs. “Call me P’Gun.”

Chimon _wai_ s them once more. “P’Gun.” He bows, hands pressed together palm-to-palm. “P’Off.”

“Nong,” Off returns, feeling out their place. He clears his throat. “Do you two know each other?”

Chimon says “yes” as Gun says “no” and Off waits for Gun to clarify. Gun doesn’t lie, does Chimon? 

“We’ve only just met,” Gun tells Off. “But Papii can feel it, can’t he? We know him.”

Off hesitates. He _can_ feel something. And he was led here by something other than dumb luck, had learned this fairy’s name not because Chimon had slipped up but because it had been gifted to him as if it was knowledge meant for him to protect. Like this boy—this fairy probably decades older than Off is—is his to protect. After a moment, Off nods, although confusion hasn’t left him.

“I know you,” Chimon agrees. He doesn’t say anything else, smiling at Gun but watching Off with a certain wariness, like he’s waiting for Off to confirm it in words.

“Er.” Off looks at Gun, back at Chimon. “I guess you need someone to look after you,” Off says.

Chimon beams at him then, and, for a moment, the mischief disappears, genuine happiness radiating from him.

“We’ll take care of you, Mon,” Gun affirms, already giving the fairy a nickname, wrapping an arm around Chimon’s shoulder.

Off doesn’t feel any jealousy at that, at the instant way Gun takes to Chimon. Instead, it feels...comforting.

“You want to take him to Jennie’s?” Off suggests.

Gun’s eyes light up. “You’ll love P’Jen…”

Laughing, Off thinks of how they’ll explain Chimon to the rest of their friends.

He barely feels it when they pass back through the veil.

After all, it’s all theirs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _The End (?)_
> 
> I hope anyone who has read this has enjoyed it. Thanks so much for your time and giving this a shot! I especially appreciate those of you who have been reading and commenting as I post and, of course, Max for getting me through this and double-checking it for me. I would love hearing any of your thoughts/feelings/theories in the comments. Have a fantastic day, babiis. 💚


End file.
